Accelerated
by Frenzied Flame
Summary: Roxas is a quirky kid; Axel's the new guy in town. Summer brings them together, but school will tear them apart. Rated M for later chapters. Akuroku, others
1. Chapter 1

It's been a while since I've written anything quality. I kept trying to write new chapters for my existing stories, but no matter what I wrote nothing came out good enough. Then I watched an awesome movie, _Lucas_, and I was struck by inspiration. If you've seen the movie, just know that it completely veers off course pretty much right after this chapter. Oh, and insurance that I'll actually update, I have 84 pages of this written already, because I've been writing since August. It'll take me a while to edit it all, but it will be updated in a timely fashion this time around. Anyway, enough of my rambling, here's the first chapter.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything. I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I don't own _Lucas_, I don't own much of anything. Okay.

* * *

Roxas was walking along the tracks, red and white striped umbrella in one hand, CD player in the other. His headphones were in his ear and low classical music flowed into his ears. He had followed those tracks all the way down to the pier earlier, sat on the dock, fished the grey book out of his black backpack, and began drawing the scene in front of him. After two hours on the dock he had packed up his things and set off for home. He hopped up on the railing and balanced on it for a moment before jumping off into the grass to avoid the oncoming train. He took out his headphones, sat on the ground, and watched the train as it passed. When it had gone, he noticed what he hadn't realized before: across the tracks, in a clearing in the trees, there was a boy. He was practicing with a struggle bat, and Roxas could tell he was skilled and knew very well what he was doing. Roxas turned off his CD player and tried to be quiet as he walked over to watch the boy practice. He hid behind a tree and slipped his headphones back in, watching the boy intently. He was tall, much taller than the blond, and carried himself with an ease of grace that Roxas quickly envied. At the top of his lean, toned body was the most beautiful face the boy had ever seen, covered with a shock of bright crimson hair. Roxas looked on in awe as the boy swung his bat in quick, precise thrusts and slashes. Then he was spotted. He quickly yanked out his headphones and tried not to look as nervous as he felt.

"Can you pass me that?"

Roxas stared blankly.

"My jacket, it's right there by your feet."

Roxas' eyes widened and he bent down to pick up the worn leather jacket. He rushed over to the boy and handed it to him.

"Thanks. Do you struggle?"

"No, I'm no good."

"Oh, well, alright then."

The boy pulled his hair back with an elastic band and continued practicing.

"You're really good."

He paused again. "Thanks, I've been struggling since I was little."

"Are you on the team?"

The boy quirked an eyebrow. "There's a team here?"

"Yeah, at school."

"Which school, Sunset High?"

"Yeah, I go there."

"Really?" He asked confusedly. "You look-"

"Younger, I know. I'm accelerated, I skipped a few grades."

"Oh, okay, I guess I'll see you in school then."

The boy began practicing once more.

"What's your name?"

He stopped and smirked at the blond.

"Axel."

"Hi, I'm Roxas."

"Hi."

"Hi," the blond echoed.

"Well, bye."

Roxas sat down in the clearing and put his headphones in his ears, letting the classical music quickly engulf him. With the music in his ears, Roxas felt as if he was watching a god of some sort. The way he – Axel – leaned into each thrust of his bat, the way his feet never seemed to touch the ground for more than a millisecond. He was floating, and his talent and love for what he was doing was evident.

It took his CD ending for Roxas to realize how long he had been there watching the boy practice. He got up to stretch out his legs and start the journey home when he was noticed again.

Axel looked down at his watch before speaking. "Hey, do you need a ride? It's getting pretty dark out. I'll take you home if you want."

"Sure, thanks."

Axel pulled the elastic out of his hair and tossed his jacket over his shoulder before motioning for Roxas to follow. He hurriedly obliged and had to walk twice as fast as usual due to the length of Axel's legs. They started through the woods and the trees got progressively thicker until Roxas was a bit worried they'd gotten lost. But before he had a chance to voice this worry, they walked into another clearing with an unobstructed view to the road. Roxas kept following until he was led to a worn, grey convertible. They stopped.

"This is yours?"

"Yeah. It's not much, but it was my dad's in the 80s. He gave it to me when he left me and my mom. Guess he was trying to ease his guilt or something," he shrugged. "Well, get in."

Roxas opened the passenger side door and slid in as Axel hopped over the side into his seat. It took a couple of tries to get the engine going, but once it started Roxas was surprised at how smoothly it ran.

"So your dad left you?"

Axel sighed.

"Sorry, I know we just met and all, I just thought, you know, since you brought it up and all..."

"No it's alright. A year or so ago, my dad, he's the CEO of some random company, my dad started going to work earlier and leaving later. My naïve mother thought he was just putting in extra hours to bring home some more money, but that didn't even make sense because we were rolling in it. Anyway, I knew that wasn't the reason, so I played the little innocent kid and went up to his office to "see what my daddy does at work". I walked in and boy, he was at work all right. At work pounding away into some young intern." Roxas saw Axel quickly wipe at his eye but pretended not to notice.

"Turn left here."

"So I kicked in the door, ran in, pushed the girl off the desk and punched my dad in the face. Next thing I know, my parents are divorced, he moved out, took all the money with him, and my 47 year old father is married to a 20 year old slut."

"Wow. I'm really sorry about that."

"At least I got a car out of it, right?" he chuckled. "That fixes everything, according to him. Fixes the fact that my mom can barely pay the bills, fixes the fact that we had to move away from everything I knew right before my senior year, and fixes the fact that I'm absolutely disgusted with the fact that he's old enough to be her father."

"Well, age differences aren't all that bad. Take you and me for example, I'm 14, you're…" he trailed off.

"I'm 17. And yeah, but we're friends. Could you see me with some 40 year old woman?"

"No..." But Roxas could barely focus; he was too excited at the fact that Axel already considered him a friend. "We're friends?"

Axel grinned over at him. "Yeah sure, why not? Anyway, sorry for dumping all of that on you, I don't usually do that. Where's your house?"

"We're coming up on it right now."

They pulled up in front of the house and stopped. It was a massive white house, not big enough to be called a mansion, but too big to be considered normal. Axel looked at the ripped jeans and obvious disarray of Roxas' appearance and had to say something.

"You live here?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah."

"You don't look the type."

Roxas smiled and raked a hand through his blond hair. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"See you around, Roxas."

Roxas smiled brightly. "Yeah... you too."

* * *

Roxas was outside, drying the windows he had just meticulously cleaned when he heard the familiar purr of the grey convertible. He turned around and watched as Axel slowed to a stop, taking his shades from their home on his face and throwing them in the back seat.

"Hey! Roxas!"

Roxas dropped the rag he was holding and ran out to the road. Pausing only to catch his breath, he began excitedly.

"Wow, Axel! Hey, what are you doing here?"

He laughed, "What do you think? I'm here to see you! I've been driving past this place for the past week; you never even gave me your number!"

"Oh... It's uh, unlisted; my parents don't like people calling"

"Don't you have a cell phone?"

"No, I'm not allowed."

Axel looked down in thought for a moment.

"Well then I'll stop by when I want to see you."

"No!" he shouted. "I mean, _no_. They don't like that; they don't want people making a mess of the house and all."

Axel lowered his face in scarcely hidden disappointment.

"But I can go see you! I'll meet you at that clearing at 4?"

"Today?"

"Every day!"

Axel laughed at the childlike grin on the blond's face. "Alright, meet you there."

* * *

Over the next month, Axel and Roxas spent every day together. They went swimming in the lake, hiking through the woods, Axel taught the blond to drive, and attempted to teach him to struggle. They went to movies and even once watched the sunset from the top of the hill. Then Roxas decided to show Axel something new, for a change.

"Come on, keep moving. The faster you go, the faster we'll be out of here."

"Roxas, we're in a sewer. I can only go so fast while dying from the stench."

"Stop complaining, you baby. We're almost there."

They kept moving, trying to stay on the sides and out of the actual sewage. Axel was about to complain some more when Roxas stopped abruptly and pressed a finger to the his lips.

"Shh."

Roxas climbed on a nearby ledge and cracked the grate above his head, immediately letting in a flow of classical music. Roxas patted the spot next to him and Axel hoisted himself up. They sat back to back, leaning on each other for support. After a couple of minutes, Roxas spoke.

"Hey, Axel?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you think we'd be such good friends when we met?"

"... I don't know."

"What did you think of me?"

"I thought you were… interesting."

"Oh," he said, pondering for a moment. "I thought you were beautiful." He sighed." Do you still?"

"Do I still what?"

"Think I'm interesting."

"Yes, I do."

"Me too."

They sat there in silence for what seemed like hours. Roxas smiled softly as a song he knew came on.

"I think I like classical music, Rox."

Roxas sat silently, and a traitorous tear rolled down his cheek. He tried to stifle his hitching breath, but to no avail.

"You okay Roxas?"

"Yeah..." He sighed and whispered, as if too loud a noise would shatter their surroundings. "I just wish school would never start."

* * *

_Reviews are more than welcome!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Dislcaimer**: I still don't own a thing.

* * *

Roxas was being swallowed in a sea of impatient students as he tried to worm his way through to the auditorium. Earlier, he had seen a blur of bright red and had been trying desperately to make his way to his friend.

"Hey! Roxas!" He turned to the left to find the source of the voice, and found a slate-haired boy a couple inches taller than him.

"Oh, hey Zexion. How was your summer?"

"It was great, actually. I was looking for you, but you were never around. What were you up to?"

Roxas stood on his toes, trying to see over the mass of people. "Not much, just hung around. Listen, I'll see you later, alright?"

Before Zexion could get a word out, Roxas had vanished into the crowd.

_"All students report to the auditorium for orientation. All students report to the auditorium."_

Roxas flinched in surprise as the speaker next to him roared to life, and suddenly he was being shuffled into the auditorium with the crowd and had no choice but to take his seat along with the others. He watched as a stiff shouldered man, Principal Storm, took the stage.

The man tapped on his microphone before beginning. "Hello and welcome back to another wonderful year at Sunset High! I trust you all had an enjoyable summer. I hope we can have a delightful year, and to all the seniors here, I'll be glad when you're gone!" He paused for the student body to fake a chuckle or two before moving on. "Anyway, you all know my rules, and if you don't, open your handbook. I've got work to attend to, but please welcome to the stage Coach Armstrong and his reigning team of strugglers!"

Principal Storm vacated the stage as a burly man marched onto the stage and called up the team.

A crowd of 16 guys rose from the audience and he finally spotted him. Four rows up, three seats in sat Axel, so he decided to make his move. He rose from his seat and crouched low as he made his way up the aisle. The strugglers pushed past him on their way to the stage, and he was right at Axel's row when a large hand roughly landed on his shoulder and spun him around. Roxas gulped as he looked into the face of the person who had been tormenting him since the fifth grade.

"H-hi R-Riku."

"Hey look guys, it's Rucksack!" There were obnoxious guffaws from the rest of the team. "Rucksack here is trying out for the struggle team this year!" He hoisted Roxas up over his shoulder and the blond locked eyes with Axel embarrassedly. They stared at each other for a moment before Riku broke into a run. He climbed the stairs and threw Roxas to the floor. Roxas attempted to scamper away but Riku was too quick and grabbed him up again.

"Riku, please stop!" The blond yelled out, pushing at his tormentor and tugging at his long silver hair, but nothing worked.

Riku shoved him to the ground again and the audience erupted into laughter and cheers. Riku rolled the blond over and delivered a bruising kick to his chest, knocking the wind out of him. As Roxas groaned in agony and Riku pulled back for another kick, the coach finally stepped in.

"Hey. Hey! Settle down everyone!" He focused his attention in on Roxas, who was curled up in the fetal position on the floor. "Get off my stage, boy. I've had enough of your games. Go. Get off of the stage!" He bellowed.

The crowd hushed. Roxas slowly lifted himself from the ground and limped off of the stage. Each step he took was amplified in the stark silence, and all eyes were on him. Once he was out of eyesight he broke into a run out of the double doors of the school. Fumbling with his bike lock, he struggled to see the numbers through his tears. He was in so much pain he could barely stand it, and what's worse, he was humiliated in front of the entire school. But he didn't care about any of that. Axel had seen.

He felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder and immediately started begging for mercy, thinking Riku had come back for more.

"You alright, Roxas?"

"I'm fine." Roxas wiped at the tears on his face and kept trying to unlock his bike.

"I know you're not fine. They shouldn't have done that to you."

Roxas gave up on the lock and decided to walk. "Yeah, well it happens. It's happened all my life. People aren't going to suddenly start being nice just because you want them to." He brushed past Axel and tried to keep the tears from falling.

"I'm really sorry I didn't do anything."

"It's okay, I didn't expect you to. I stopped expecting things from people a long time ago."

Axel stopped walking after him. "Roxas, that's not fair."

"Life's not fair, Axel. You should know that." He turned around to look at the redhead.

"Roxas, I really don't want to fight with you. You're the only friend I've got here. And I really like you."

Roxas smiled a bit. "Yeah? Well I like you too." He chuckled. "Can we just forget about all this? Please?"

"Forget about what?" He grinned. "I hear there are some hilarious movies playing now. Wanna go catch one?"

Roxas nodded.

"Alright, get your bike and I'll bring my car around, you can stick it in the back."

Roxas watched as Axel jogged off toward the senior section of the parking lot. He turned around and was able to get the lock open easily without the tears obscuring his vision. He stood with his bike, rocking on the balls of his feet to pass the time. He began looking around the premises and when his eyes reached the doors of the school, he noticed Riku standing there staring. They made eye contact, and Roxas briefly wondered how long he had been standing there before Axel pulled up in front of him. He picked up his bike and awkwardly dumped it in the backseat before running around to the passenger side and getting in. As Axel pulled off, Roxas chanced a glance behind him. Riku was still standing there. His eyes followed them until they turned out of his line of vision.

"So what's with that guy?"

"Riku? He's been after me since we were little. Fifth grade was when I first moved ahead. I came from the third grade. No one else bothered me, they all told me it was cool that I was smart enough to be with them. But not Riku. No, he made it his life's work to make me miserable every single day. He would push me in the mud or steal my lunch, things like that. It just kept getting worse. In 8th grade he decided I was finally old enough to really beat up, so he dragged me behind the bleachers and punched me until I couldn't see straight. Each year the beatings get worse. Last year he broke my arm in three places. What happened today wasn't that bad. I try to avoid him, I really do, but no matter what I do, no matter where I go, he's right behind me ready to strike. I have no idea why he does it."

"Geez. This guy must be in love with you or something. Why was he staring at you back there?"

"Oh. You saw that?" He fidgeted uncomfortably. "I really don't know. I've never actually seen him do that before."

"Don't worry about it Rox. You know…" he waggled his eyebrows a bit. "If you let me teach you to struggle you'd be better off."

Roxas chuckled. "Didn't we try that already? I'm horrible, remember?"

"Yeah, I know. But my offer still stands." Axel turned on the radio and the rest of the drive was silent.

* * *

"I'll pay for the popcorn if you get the drinks."

Roxas laughed. "Isn't that what we do every time?"

"'_Isn't that what we do every time?'_" A mocking voice entered from behind them.

Roxas and Axel turned to face a smirking Riku with a scantily dressed redhead hanging off of his arm.

"Kairi, why don't you go get us some seats, alright babe?"

The girl stretched and kissed him on the cheek before strutting off into the theatre.

"Well well well, what do we have here? Little Rucksack's gone and found himself a little clown friend."

Axel clenched his fists and stepped forward, towering over the bully. "Back off."

"Oh. This clown's got a few tricks up his sleeve, huh? Get out of the way, will ya? I don't care about you."

Axel stepped closer to him. "I'm not going anywhere."

Riku let out a bark of laughter. "Look like we got a couple of fags over here. You think you're gonna stop me? Think again clown boy."

"Riku," a soft voice interjected, "leave them alone."

Riku stepped back as a petite blonde girl came over.

"Namine, what are you doing here?"

She stood in front of him and put her hands on her hips. "Why are you such a jerk?"

"Why do you always stick up for him?"

"Why do you always pick on him?" She countered.

Riku stood speechless before turning around and going into the theatre.

Namine turned to Axel. "I'm sorry about my brother. I don't know why he acts the way that he does." She turned to Roxas. "I'm really sorry about today. I don't know why Coach Armstrong didn't interfere immediately. There is something seriously wrong when a crowd of people cheer and watch as someone gets hurt."

Roxas looked down at his feet.

"Listen, I'm going out with a couple of friends after the movie tonight. Do you two want to come with us?"

Axel looked down at Roxas who nodded. "Sure, yeah, we'd like that."

Namine smiled angelically. "Great. So I'll meet you in front after the show." They watched as she turned around and walked into the theatre.

Axel's eyes lingered on her retreating form before he turned back to the man at the counter who had been silently observing all of this.

"Can I get a large popcorn?"

* * *

"And how about that part when the girl-"

"When she fell through the-"

"And then she landed on the-"

"I know! That was the best part!"

The entire car, except Axel and Roxas, erupted into laughter. Axel and Roxas had been stuffed in the back of Namine's boyfriend Hayner's van, between a chatty brunette named Olette and a practically mute girl named Fuu. Some guy named Seifer, who was apparently dating both girls without any repercussions, was sitting on the other side, chatting up some obnoxiously 'alternative' girl named Xion. They were on the way back to the movie theatre from some 50's themed diner where the waitresses wore poodle skirts and roller skates. The entire affair had been very awkward, and Axel was sorry he'd accepted the offer to come along. He looked at Roxas and knew he was feeling the same way. Axel nudged Roxas' shoulder playfully, trying to ease the tension they were both feeling. Roxas chuckled and nudged him back. Just then, Axel looked up and saw that Hayner had stopped looking at the road in favor of making out with Namine. In a matter of seconds the car swerved into a ditch and everyone was flung forward out of their seats.

"What the hell Hayner?" Seifer was seething. "Couldn't you wait for that? For fuck's sake..."

Hayner tried the engine but it wouldn't start. "Guys... we might be stuck here."

The girls all groaned in unison.

Axel finally maneuvered himself into an upright position. "I know a bit about cars. Maybe I could fix it." He opened the back of the van and vanished into the night.

Seifer, in an effort to save face in front of his girls, made to get out as well. "I know more than a _bit _about cars. I'll go fix it."

After Seifer, everyone but Roxas filed out of the van. He knew there was absolutely nothing he could do to help, and he needed a break from those people anyway.

When Seifer got around to the front of the car Axel was already under the hood. "It looks like the cap to your fuel pump flew off, man."

"Yeah, that's right." Seifer nodded matter-o-factly.

"Hey Hayner, do you have any duct tape around? That would hold it together for now, at least for us to get home."

Seifer used his hip to bump Axel out of the way. "Definitely, yes. Somebody get me some duct tape now!" He turned to look at Axel. "It's alright man, I can handle this."

Axel didn't really care either way so he walked in way of the headlights and sat on the ground. Namine saw him and went and sat next to him.

"Don't mind Seifer. He's not bad; he just doesn't like guys upstaging him in front of Olette and Fuu."

Axel nodded. "Thanks for sticking up for Roxas, back there at the theatre."

"It's no problem. He's a good kid. I like him." She smiled absently. "You know, he did something for me once."

"Yeah, what's that?"

"Hey Namine!" Hayner motioned for her to come over.

"Sorry, I'll talk to you later, 'kay?"

She got up and brushed off the back of her jeans as she walked away, and again, Axel couldn't help but watch her.

After a minute or two, Seifer figured out what he was supposed to be doing with the duct tape and the car was functioning again. Axel rose and made his way back to the van. Climbing into it, he noticed that now, Seifer was sitting between Olette and Fuu, and Xion was now sitting next to Roxas, trying to strike up an awkward conversation. He took the empty seat to Roxas' left and tuned into what Seifer was saying.

"I told you, nobody knows cars like Seifer Almasy." Olette giggled and whispered in his ear while Fuu smiled and shifted closer to him. "So are you girls coming back to my place tonight?"

Axel shook his head and decided not to listen anymore. He looked at Roxas who was struggling to keep his eyes open, and he noticed that it was almost two in the morning. He hoped Roxas wouldn't be in trouble for coming in so late. Axel smiled as Roxas lost his internal battle and fell asleep on his shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Xion looking questioningly at him, but he just rolled his eyes and decided that Roxas had the right idea, so he closed his eyes and decided to rest until they got back to the theatre.

* * *

"Well isn't this adorable. Two little queers asleep in the back of my van."

"Hayner! They're not gay, leave them alone. They just fell asleep."

"Whatever you say, Nam." He poked Axel in the nose and got a swift swat to his face. "Dude, don't hit me! Wake up, we're here."

Axel opened his eyes and noticed Hayner's reddening cheek. Smiling apologetically, he turned to wake up the blond beside him.

"Hey Roxas. Roxaaaaas. Roxas!"

The blond was completely unresponsive and, as Axel shook his shoulders, his head lolled to the side.

"Just get him out, I'm already past curfew."

Axel grabbed the blond and carried him bridal style to the convertible and plopped him in the passenger seat before climbing into the driver's seat.

When they were halfway to Roxas' house, the blond woke up in a frenzy.

"Where am I? Where are we going? Axel, where are you taking me?"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Axel hurriedly stopped the car. "Roxas, calm down! You fell asleep in Hayner's van and I was just taking you home! Relax!"

Roxas' eyes cleared as he realized what was going on. He felt foolish for thinking his best friend would ever do anything so wrong to him. He noticed the massive houses they were passing and began to panic.

"Uhm, Axel, could you, uh, take me to my aunt's house. It's a little farther east, take a left here."

Axel shrugged and did as he was told, following the directions as Roxas delivered them. Soon they had entered the warehouse district, where shady back-alley deals were dealt and you couldn't trust anyone, no matter how friendly they may seem to be. Axel swallowed, feeling a bit paranoid, and pushed a button. Roxas watched as the black top covered the car.

"Hey Rox, are you sure we're going the right way? Seems pretty... I don't know... Scary over here."

"Yeah, my aunt lives over here. My parents would have killed me if I came in at," he paused to look down at the clock of the car, "3:30 in the morning. My aunt doesn't care either way." He looked out the window. "You can let me out here. Your engine's pretty loud, _that_ would upset her."

Axel looked wary. "Are you sure? Do you want me to walk you there?"

"No! No, you don't wanna... Leave your car here unattended. I'll be fine, trust me."

Axel was unsure but decided to listen to the blond. He got out and helped him pull the old bike from the back and watched as he began pedaling down the street.

"See you later, Rox."

* * *

"Hey Namine! Wait up!" The girl in question stopped as Axel jogged up to her. As he approached she continued walking while he fell into step beside her. "The other day, when the van broke down, you told me that Roxas did something for you once." She nodded. "What did he do?"

"Last year, I was out for almost the entire third quarter because of a cheerleading accident. I was top of the pyramid, you know. So some girl down at the bottom sneezed, and everyone came toppling down. Everyone was fine, but I broke my ankle and my shoulder, and I had some internal bruising. So I was out all quarter and Roxas came to my house everyday to tell me what I'd missed and bring me my homework. If it wasn't for him, I'd have had to repeat the grade. No one asked him to do it, he just did. And he still won't tell me why."

"You're nice to him."

"What?" She asked confusedly.

"You're nice to him," he repeated. "That's why he helped you."

"Oh... I never thought about that."

They approached the parking lot where they would part ways. Axel looked to the left and saw a dirty blond in camouflage pants waving her over.

"Well, Hayner's waiting. See you later?"

"Yeah. See ya."

They walked off in opposite directions. Axel only looked back once.

* * *

"Hey, Roxy?"

"Yeah, Ax? The blond looked up from his position on the ground at his friend towering over him, struggle bat in one hand, towel in the other.

"Do you know when try-outs for the team are?"

"You're trying out?"

"Yeah," Axel said as he sat next to the blond. "I wasn't going to because of everything with you and Riku, but I really miss it, ya know? It's been the one constant thing in my life. And I was talking to Namine about it," Roxas rolled his eyes, unnoticed by Axel. "And she thinks it's a good idea."

Roxas shrugged. "You can try out if you want, you don't have to give me an explanation, I'm not your dad. Try-outs are in 2 weeks. Thursday, I think."

Axel got up to practice some more. "Hey, Roxy?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure you don't want me to teach you to struggle?"

Roxas ignored him and put in his headphones.

* * *

Axel walked onto the sandlot in awe - the small patch of dirt he'd struggled on back home was nowhere near as nice. He supposed, with Sunset High having a legitimate team, they'd need to have an adequate area for games. He noticed an open garage to his left that seemed to house an enormous platform - most likely for the important final games. He forced himself to stop admiring the layout and focused on the thirty or so people around him. Two pairs of students were struggling in the center while all the others watched. He spotted Coach Armstrong among the mass, eyes hidden by shades, writing furiously on a clipboard. He noticed that Seifer was one of the four fighting just as he knocked a small boy, probably a freshman, to the ground. A whistle was blown and the boy was called off the field as another was sent on. This one was larger than the first, but looked even more nervous. He approached and went into a very precise and obviously practiced stance as Seifer, who was obviously bored, stood there lazily, bat dangling at his side. Just as the whistle was blown for them to begin, Axel's attention was called away as someone clapped him on the shoulder. He turned to see Hayner standing there grinning.

"Hey new kid, put your name on the list. Don't just stand there looking happy."

He jogged back to the center of the sandlot as Axel pushed through random kids to sign up, and then continued watching the fights.

He watched as one by one Seifer defeated every kid who opposed him. He couldn't tell who was fighting on the opposite side, so he slowly made his was the far side, where he found a brawny guy fighting Riku. Axel watched rapturously, sure he was about to see Roxas' bully fall, but in less than a minute Riku had the large boy on his knees. He realized that yes, Riku was strong, but his biggest strength was his speed. Riku defeated everyone he fought with ease - some lasted longer than others, but Riku never broke a sweat.

"FUCK!"

Axel turned to the disturbance and saw Seifer on the ground. Standing next to him was a goofy looking brunette with a cocky grin on his face. Seifer got up grumpily and raised the kid's hand in the air.

"New member of the team here! Sora Park!" He announced to the crowd. They all cheered for him as Seifer led him out of the crowd. Hayner took his spot on the field and called out the new candidate. Axel noted that Hayner's movements were powerful, but slow and completely predictable. A whistle blew.

"You Axel Sinclair?" The coach asked and he nodded. "You're up against Riku."

Axel gave him a curt nod and took of his leather jacket, dropping it just outside the fighting area. He twirled his bat in his hand as he walked toward the center. Axel approached the boy slowly, smirking down at him when he stopped.

"You ready, clown?"

"Shut up."

And the whistle blew.

Riku immediately jumped back, avoiding Axel's first strike. But Axel was expecting that, and used the momentum from his lunge to jump forward and hit him his side. Riku backed up, and they began circling each other. Suddenly, Riku broke into a run and jumped, bringing his bat down over Axel's collarbone. The redhead had been studying his fighting style and quickly stepped to the right, grabbed Riku's left leg and pulled down, throwing him to his knees before swiftly hitting him in the back of his neck. Riku choked before landing on the ground. Axel stood straight and laughed, throwing his hands in the air and accepting the roaring applause that swarmed him. Riku got up and glared, roughly grabbing his wrist and holding it high.

"New member of the team! Axel Sinclair!"

He dropped his hand. "Follow me."

Axel followed him beyond the crowd into the locker room. Waiting inside was the rest of the team: Leon, Cloud, Setzer, Seifer, a few nameless faces, and the newcomer, Sora, stood right beside Axel. Hayner was still outside struggling against new players. Riku walked in and closed the door behind him.

Standing in front of the two new members, he began a clearly practiced speech. "This is my team. I've been number one since I was a freshman, and I've never lost a match." Axel rolled his eyes; clearly he had forgotten about his loss five minutes prior. "I've carried the Sunset Strugglers to the finals each year. It's an honor to be a part of this team. Don't screw up." With that, he pushed past the two boys and left the way he came in.

Axel turned to the boy beside him. "I'm Axel."

"Sora."

And they walked forward to the mass of people in front of them.

* * *

_Reviews, por favor?_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: So I got like a million alerts on this and not _one _review. So I don't know if you guys are just alerting it to laugh at how bad it is or what. I don't want to be obnoxious but I've been writing this for months. It kind of sucks not to have any feedback at all. Just putting it out there.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything but the fragile heart in my chest that you guys are _SMASHING _with your never-ending indifference.

* * *

Roxas scanned the cafeteria until his eyes fell upon the redhead. He frowned at Axel's place between two guffawing brutes and walked by, disappointed, heading over to a corner table with only one occupant.

"Hey Zexion," he said, taking his seat. The slate-haired boy looked up from his book to give Roxas a smile. "What's that you're reading?"

Zexion dog-eared his page and set the book down beside his practically untouched tray of mysterious cafeteria food. "_Romeo and Juliet_. It's actually a really good read, once you get used to Shakespeare's language."

"I've never actually read that. I don't even know how it ends. Tell me about it when you finish?"

Zexion raised an eyebrow at that – how could anyone not know the ending? – but smiled and nodded. "Sure thing. Do you want to maybe hang out over the weekend?"

"No thanks," he supplied, focusing more on the questionable quality of his 'food'. "I'll probably be with Axel."

Zexion looked disappointed and returned to his book as Roxas gave up on his food and gazed off towards the other table, wishing he was sitting with Axel instead.

* * *

Over the next month, Axel grew closer to Namine. Their struggle and cheer practices coincided, so it was easy for them to chat on the way there and during breaks.

"Wait up!" Axel turned in time to see the petite blonde running up to him. "Are you heading to practice now?" She asked, brushing a few stray hairs behind her ear. He nodded and kept pace; if he was late, Coach would have his head. Namine linked an arm with his and rested her head on his shoulder as they went. She was an affectionate person, always touching people, so he thought nothing of it.

"Axel!" He and Namine both turned at the sound, and she released his arm as Roxas came over, pile of books balanced precariously in his arms. "Can you drive me to my aunt's today? It'll be horrible trying to bike all this home with me," he trailed off, looking up at him hopefully.

"Sorry, Rox, I've got practice until six. Me and Namine were just heading over. Unless you want to wait?"

"Oh, uh, no, don't even worry about it. I'll see you around." Axel shrugged and left with Namine. Roxas watched as she linked their arms again and glared at her retreating form before leaving the opposite way.

* * *

Axel hadn't had much time out of school to spend with Roxas, due to the amount of practices he had each week. They were lucky if they saw each other once a week out of classes. But with Namine it was different. Wherever he went, she was there. On the days that it rained, Axel would hold her umbrella as she ran over to Hayner's van. When practice let out late and the autumn air chilled her, he let her wear his leather jacket. They became very close over those few weeks together, and Axel began to see less and less of Roxas.

"Hey, Axel!"

Axel took the bottle of water from his lips to smile as Namine ran over to him in a short white dress that was unfitting for the chill in the air. "Is struggle over?"

"Yup," he began, shrugging off his jacket and handing it to her. She accepted it with a gratuitous smile. "Coach let us off early today."

"Great! Listen; can you do me a favor? Hayner's got someplace to be, so I really need a ride home tonight. Could you take me?"

If Axel was thinking of saying no, which he wasn't, he definitely would have been persuaded by her fluttering blonde lashes and glossy pink pout.

"Sure, come on."

He led her over to his convertible and opened her door for her. She giggled as she climbed in and he shut the door behind her, bowing in a dramatic and ridiculous pantomime of gentlemanliness. After getting the car started she told him where she lived, and Axel was surprised to realize that was also Roxas' street. He drove off in the appropriate direction and listened as Namine told him about her day.

"How did you and Hayner get together?"

Namine looked a bit shocked at the random question but laughed it off. "Well, we met when I was seven. He was friends with Riku, so he was always at my house. By the time we were 13, he had stopped coming over to hang out with Riku and started coming to spend time with me. He was my best friend. Sophomore year he asked me to be his girlfriend, and that's where we are now."

"You guys are cute together."

Namine raised her eyebrow. "You think so?" She smiled to herself.

"Yeah. Which one is yours?" he asked, referring to the houses lining the street.

"The third one, right there," she answered, pointing to a brick house just a bit smaller than Roxas'. Axel parked on the street rather than drive up the winding driveway and raised an expectant eyebrow at the girl when she took a while getting out of the car. She giggled a bit randomly and got out, walking around to him. "Come in, let me show you around."

Axel got out of the car smiling. She grabbed his hand and scurried up to her front door, pulling him behind her. She pulled a key out of her pocket and led him into the house. He stepped into an immaculate living room filled with all white furniture, white carpet, and white walls.

"Take off your shoes."

He did as he was told and let himself be pulled through the room and up some stairs. She pulled him into another room, similar to the living room but equipped with a bed. The floor was covered with white carpet, the furniture was the same, and so were the walls- at least what you could see of them. The majority was covered with hundreds of photographs, blown up to 8x10s. Axel's jaw dropped as they walked to the farthest walls and stood in front of what looked to be the most recent pictures. Everyone looked about same age in the pictures that they were now; there was one of Hayner carrying Namine to the end of the dock and another of Namine, mid-fall. The next was her scowling in the water as Hayner, Seifer, and Olette laughed. Fuu was absent from most of them, so he figured she must have taken them. He looked around and realized that all of these pictures were of her and her friends, and they seemed to start from the beginning of high school. He turned to tell her how amazing it all looked and looked straight into her eyes. He was just inches from her face, and finally realized they were still holding hands. He leaned forward slowly and, when she didn't move, leaned in to kiss her softly. Her eyes fluttered closed, and his followed. Soon she raised her hands to his chest and pushed him back, eyes wide. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. When Axel realized what he had done he hurriedly backed away from her, stumbling over his own feet.

"I should go."

He turned and ran down the stairs two at a time, stepping into his shoes and running out to his car. He looked back, breathing heavy, and saw her standing at her door before he started the car and pulled off.

* * *

The next day was awkward, to say the least. Axel refused to make eye contact with Namine and avoided her all day. At practice, he refused to even glance at the cheerleaders. He was in the clear, in the final stretch, sitting in his car, putting the key into the ignition, when Namine planted herself in front of his car, arms crossed in front of her.

"Axel, can you give me a ride?

He groaned internally, knowing he couldn't possibly say no to her.

"Hop in."

They drove in complete silence. When they reached her house, she didn't get out. Axel could feel her gaze burning a hole in the side of his head but didn't want to look away from his hands gripping the steering wheel.

"Hey." He turned to find her leaning precariously close and she quickly pressed her mouth to his. He pulled back hurriedly.

"Whoa! Namine, stop! You have a boyfriend!"

She sat back in her seat and sighed. "I know! It's just... Do you like me?"

Axel nodded and looked anywhere but at her.

"Well, I really like you too. And when you kissed me yesterday... I didn't really know what to think. But I realized, as you were running out that I didn't want you to leave. I _don't_ want you to leave. I think we should try this."

Axel looked at her. "We should try this," he deadpanned. She only nodded. "What about Hayner?"

She got out and pulled him out of the car. "Don't think about him," she led him up to the house. "It's just me and you."

* * *

"Roxas, we were in her room for hours. We just kept kissing, and my shirt was off, her shirt came off..."

Roxas looked at Axel, face completely devoid of any emotion. "I'm not seeing your dilemma."

Axel gaped exasperatedly. "She has a boyfriend! Hayner! My teammate!"

Roxas shrugged. "Then tell her to stop."

"I can't! I mean, I don't want to stop!"

"Then don't. Keep going with this."

Axel sat on the grass beside the blond and rolled his eyes. "Roxas, you really aren't much help." He huffed out, laying back and stretching his arms over his head.

"Sorry." He replied, not feeling apologetic in the least. "So what else happened? Did you guys... you know? "Roxas averted his eyes.

"What? No! No. We... We came close, though. I just - she's a virgin, Rox. I couldn't."

"And you're not?" Roxas asked curiously. "A virgin, I mean."

Axel frowned slightly. "No. Story time," he said, rolling his eyes at himself. "There was this girl, back in Hollow Bastion, Larxene. We went out for a few months my sophomore year. She was my first, and I _thought_ I was hers. She dumped me the day after we did it, and I found out she was just playing some sick game, trying to get through everyone in the school. I was her 18th."

"... I'm really sorry about that."

Axel shrugged it off. "Life sucks. It's whatever. I just don't want Namine to regret it like I do."

Roxas smiled up at his friend. "You're really a great guy, you know."

Axel rolled his eyes. "I know. How annoying. "

* * *

Roxas walked through the cafeteria and sat next to Zexion, who was noticeably farther along in his book. The blond sat quietly and ate the questionable food without complaint.

"So," Zexion began, closing his book. "You heard about the dance coming up?"

Roxas nodded as he finished swallowing his food. "Yeah, it's right before Christmas break, right?"

"Yeah. Are you... Going? With anyone?"

Roxas shrugged. "No...I'll probably just go down to the pier and draw."

"Oh, alright. Do you want to ha-"

"Roxy!"

Zexion scowled as his invitation was cut off, but Roxas beamed as Axel jogged over to the table, holding a carton of chocolate milk in his hand.

"Hi!"

Axel squished himself between Roxas and Zexion, taking no notice of the glare the shy boy sent his way.

"So you heard about that dance?"

"Yeah. I'm probably going to stay home."

"Nope." Roxas furrowed his brows in interested confusion. "You're coming with me to the usual spot in the woods. I'm teaching you to struggle."

Roxas opened his mouth to protest. "But-!"

"No arguments. We're doing this." He brought the carton to his lips and chugged it down. " See ya there, Rox."

* * *

_Ignore the fact that Roxas doesn't know how Romeo and Juliet ends. It makes him seem a little stupid, but bear with me._

**Reviews?**


	4. Chapter 4

I really appreciate the reviews and all the alerts and favorites. Hey, not like anyone cares, but I've been playing Birth By Sleep and it's totally awesome. I'm also totally awesome at it, speeding through it like yeah. Finished Ventus and Aqua's modes in a few days, working through Terra's now. That's probably my best excuse for taking this long. Also, this is a bit short, because I really wanted to leave it off this way. Whatever.

I did this really awkward thing where, while I was editing this (for content, not errors, I probably still have typos and such) I was also changing things. Weird of me, I changed the entire middle part. Anyways...

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing at all, except my copy of Birth by Sleep that is consuming all of my time!

* * *

A few weeks later the day before the dance had arrived. Roxas acted as if he was annoyed and begrudged, but he was actually excited at the prospect of, once again, attempting to struggle with Axel. It's all he could think about day after day, and he was beginning to grow anxious. The school day couldn't end quickly enough, and Roxas rushed out to meet at the convertible. There had been no struggle practice that afternoon, so the redhead offered to give him a ride. Axel lifted the blond's bike into the back of his car and then they started home.

"So, you're going to meet me at my house tomorrow at 5, just as all the others are on their way to the dance. Bring comfortable clothes, Rox, because I'm not going to stop until you're as good as I am."

Roxas laughed. "We'll be playing for centuries."

"Not true," he chuckled. "Give yourself some credit, you aren't all that bad."

"Yeah, right," Roxas called out as he got his bike out of the car and grinned back at Axel. "5 o'clock, I'll be there!"

* * *

The bike ride to Axel's house seemed to take forever, and he just wanted to be there as quickly as possible. He smiled, thinking his friend would approve of his 'struggle attire', which consisted of some old, ripped, gray sweatpants, a white t-shirt, and one of Axel's hoodies, which was two sizes too big. He round the corner and rode his bike straight up to Axel's door and hopped off hurriedly, running to the door. Knocking twice, he calmed himself before the door opened, not wanting to seem freakishly excited for no reason. A woman who Roxas assumed was Axel's mom opened the door, and he was surprised at how few similarities they shared. The woman had thin, cropped, brunette hair and was only a bit taller than Roxas was. Roxas couldn't even begin to imagine Axel having her perfectly tanned skin, and the only thing Axel had gotten from his mother, as far as Roxas could see, were her vibrant green eyes.

"Roxas? I've heard a lot about you! I'll go get Axel," she said as she turned to walk back into the house. She turned to see him awkwardly shuffling his feet in the doorway and pulled him in by his hand. "You are just too adorable!" She cooed over her shoulder. "Go down the hall and wait in Axel's room, I think I heard him down in the basement." She pinched his cheek and Roxas had to fight down the completely embarrassed blush threatening to fill his face. "You are too cute!"

Roxas made to sit on the bed, but thought better of it and decided to explore instead. The room was a bit on the small side, but it seemed as if Axel fit everything he wanted - a dresser, desk, TV, in the limited space. The walls weren't covered with famous strugglers or musicians like Roxas had expected, and were surprisingly bare, except for a small picture frame hanging next to his dresser on the far side of the room. It was crooked. Roxas went to take a closer look but tripped on a pile of discarded clothes. Axel's leather jacket was in the pile, which Roxas found odd, but shrugged off the feeling. He had always just assumed Axel had treated his jacket better than that, but he supposed he had seen it on the ground the first time they had met, so he forgot about it. He reached the frame on the wall and smiled at how gleeful the subjects seemed, but then scrunched his eyes in confusion. It was a picture of Axel and his mother, but it was obviously ripped. Roxas couldn't be sure, but he was fairly certain that the person who had been standing to the left of Axel in the photo, the person who had been cut out, was his father. He leaned closer to straighten the frame and noticed a long red lock of hair falling over Axel's shoulder - it wasn't Axel's hair, it was far too bright - and then Roxas was sure. That was Axel's father.

Roxas was still staring at the photo as Axel came to the door and cleared his throat. "Axel!" His startled look melted into confusion as he noticed the redhead's clothes - a dark green button down and black slacks. "Uhm, Axel?"

"Hi Roxas." He took a seat on his bed and motioned for Roxas to do the same. "Listen, I, uh... we can't struggle today."

"Why not?"

"Well," he sighed, looking down at his hands," Namine called and-"

Roxas groaned and stood. "Are you serious right now?"

Axel grimaced. "Well, she called and... well she was really upset because Hayner went out of town without telling her. They were supposed to go to the dance together, and everyone is expecting her to be there. She can't just show up by herself, so I kind of told her I'd take her…?"

"How could you just-" Roxas didn't finish his sentence, just took off running through the house, ignoring the woman's cry of "Roxas, what's wrong, honey?" and bursting through the front door to come face to face with none other than Namine.

"Roxas, wait!" Axel yelled, stopping short as he saw Roxas staring at Namine, dressed in white, as usual.

"Uh, hi, Roxas." She scrunched up her nose. "You're not going to the dance like that, are you?"

Roxas clenched his fists angrily. "No, I'm not. I'm not going to the dance at all, and neither was Axel. We were _supposed _to be hanging out tonight, but now he's going with you, so I'm going to go home, in these _stupid _clothes, and stare at my wall for a few hours, because my best friend is an inconsiderate jerk." He finished, glaring at the jerk in question.

Axel scratched the back of his head and grimaced. "That's not really fair, Roxas."

"Neither is ditching your best friend to prance around with the pretty blonde _slut _who _has_ a _boyfriend_!"

Namine gasped and Axel yelled out a "Hey!", but Roxas spun on his heel and ran away, ignoring whatever Axel was saying behind him. He got on his bike and rode straight home. He ran into his room and flopped on his bed, staring at his ceiling, and when he next looked over at the clock it was a little past eight. Roxas sat up, feeling tears that he didn't realize had built up fall down his cheeks. He roughly wiped them off with the back of his hand and went outside, mounting his bike once more.

The dance was being held near the lake a few miles out of town. Roxas parked his bike on the opposite side of the lake and sat with his feet in the water, staring at the people across it having fun. A couple times he thought he saw Axel dancing with Namine, but he couldn't really be sure from this distance. He heard a few cars passing by and, to his surprise and chagrin, one of them stopped. He heard someone get out and close the door behind him, and looked up to see Zexion approaching. Roxas noted that he was also dressed nicely and frowned. The boy sat beside him for a moment and stared at the dance before breaking the silence.

"What are you doing?"

Roxas sighed and took a moment to collect his thoughts. "I'm just… watching. Just watching."

"...I thought you and Axel were doing something tonight?"

Roxas snorted, ripping up some blades of grass by his feet. "Yeah, so did I."

They sat in silence for a couple minutes, and Zexion stealthily scooted closer to the blond. Their hands on the ground were nearly touching, and he figured if he moved over just a bit more –

"Hey, Zex?" Roxas questioned, laying back and putting his arms over his head, inadvertently putting a halt to Zexion's plan. "Did you finish _Romeo and Juliet_ yet?"

"I did," he answered, pulling his own hand back towards himself.

"Oh. How does it end?"

Zexion turned to look down into Roxas' eyes. "Well, Romeo and Juliet were young and in love, as you know, but their families hated each other, so they couldn't be together; their worlds were too different. In the end, Romeo drank some poison, because he mistakenly thought Juliet had died. When she woke and found him dead, she picked up his dagger and… killed herself. They just couldn't be without the one they _loved_." He finished, trying to force all he felt to show through his eyes at that moment.

"That… That's horrible." Roxas said, gazing up at the sky.

"Believe me, I know." He sighed. "It's too bad they didn't have a better plan. They'd have lived."

Roxas was silent and then, "How old were they?"

"Juliet was 14, and I guess Romeo was a few years older."

Roxas got up and straddled his bike. "I'll see you later, Zexion. Have fun tonight."

"Where are you going?"

"I've just got something to decide."

Zexion frowned as the blond rode off into the night.

* * *

Review, please.

PLEASE.


	5. Chapter 5

So much going on lately, blah blah *insert excuse here*. I got into my favorite college. Woo?

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing.

* * *

"Namine, where's Hayner?"

The blonde turned to Seifer and noticed that, even wearing dressed up for the dance, his beanie was still perched on his head. She smiled sheepishly and linked her arm in Axel's. "He went out of town. I'm here with Ax." At Seifer's raised eyebrow, she continued. "Going with a _friend _is better than going alone right?" she giggled.

Axel grinned wryly at Seifer and offered to get Namine a drink. When he reached the punch table Olette and Fuu approached him and insisted on making conversation - well, Olette did. He suffered politely through her gushing about Seifer and his 'amazing skills in the sack' until he couldn't take it and tuned her out. He stared past the girls at Namine, and a small smile grew on his face as he saw her mingling with everyone.

"... Secret."

"What?" Axel asked, turning to Fuu, but she looked at him blankly as if she hadn't said anything, but she had and he knew it, he just wanted her to say it again. What did she mean? Now he wished he had been listening to the conversation. Did she know something she shouldn't? Did she know about him and Namine?

He excused himself from the girls and walked over to the blonde, who was laughing with Xion. He didn't bother pretending to listen to what they were saying, just cleared he throat and muttered a 'sorry' before leading Namine away by her elbow to tell her about Fuu.

"Ax, I'm sure she doesn't know. How could she?"

He hadn't really thought of that. How could she have known? "Sorry, Nam," he said, chuckling awkwardly, using the nickname to inject some normalcy. "Guess I'm a little paranoid."

"Don't worry about it, we'll be okay. Dance with me?" She asked as she already began pulling him onto the floor. He let himself be led and placed his hands on her hips, trying to keep her at 'friend' distance, but she closed in and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Nam!" he whispered at her.

"Relax," she whispered back, and he shuddered as her breath hit is ear. "I promise no one will think anything of it." she pressed a quick kiss to his cheek as Axel stared over her shoulder at Fuu, who was staring right back.

* * *

The sandlot was packed with people as the first match of the season began. The strugglers from Traverse Town weren't nearly as skilled, and each went down easily. Axel grinned in triumph as he defeated the largest guy from their team, and the crowd erupted in applause. He jumped off the platform and jogged to where Coach Armstrong was waiting for him. The team came together in a huddle, each cheering for his own victory as well as the team's. They broke away, shouting some obscenities at the losing team before making their way back to the locker room. Axel broke through the door first, laughing with the team before his smile dropped.

"Hey Axel!"

"What are you doing here?"

Axel stood in the doorway, looking at Roxas who was dressed in sweats and holding a struggle bat in one hand.

"I want to be on the team!"

Axel lifted an eyebrow confusedly. "But you can't even fight!"

"But I've been practicing! On my own! Give me a chance!"

Axel shrugged and walked in, pulling his sweaty shirt over his head. "You'll have to take that up with Coach."

Just then, Riku walked in, laughing hysterically at the sight of Roxas holding the bat. "Don't tell me! You wanna try out?" He started laughing again. "Oh, this is rich. I'm captain; you wanna be on the team? You have to fight one of us."

Roxas gulped and looked around at all the tall, muscled boys in the room and picked the one that looked least threatening: a skinny, pale kid with what looked to be a combination of a mohawk and a mullet.

He pointed. "I'll fight him"

The boy stepped forward, running a hand through his hair.

"Alright, then," Riku began. "If you can defeat Demyx, you're on the team."

* * *

Roxas wiped away the sweat that was pooling on his forehead. He had never felt as nervous as he did at that moment, standing there in the sandlot, waiting for Demyx to pummel him. He tried to remember what had made him think this would be a good idea, and the next thing he knew, the boy ran at him.

Roxas yelped and jumped to the right, narrowly avoiding being smashed in the face with the bat. Demyx ran at him again, swinging horizontally so that Roxas had to jump backwards to avoid being hit, tripping over his feet in the process. He rolled over, climbed to his feet, and saw Demyx rushing at him again. He panicked and began swinging blindly. Demyx grunted as the bat made contact with his torso and stumbled back a few steps. Still swing wildly, with his eyes squinted so that they were almost shut, Roxas whacked the boy in the chest. Demyx gasped for breath and fell on back, as the entire team gasped in shock. Roxas stood there, panting, unsure of what had just happened. He looked down at Demyx, then back at the team.

Axel slowly started clapping, and the rest of the team joined in. Riku stood with his arms crossed, face contorted in anger. He stormed onto the field and pushed Roxas out of the way, reaching out a hand to help Demyx to his feet. Once he made sure the boy was alright, he spun on Roxas.

"Why the fuck did you do that? He has asthma you fucktard!"

Roxas' eyes widened and he gasped as he turned to Demyx. "I'm so sorry, I- I didn't know!"

Demyx, who was up already, waved off the apology with an abstract movement as he tried to regain his breath. "I'm fine, man. Next time, though, no cheap shots, eh?" He clapped Roxas on his shoulder. "Welcome to the team, kid."

Roxas grinned and looked at Axel, who wore a strained smile, and the rest of the team, who still looked shocked. Then he turned to Riku, who was seething. His face was twisted in something akin to rage as he stalked off towards the locker room.

"Fall in!"

Roxas looked around confusedly, and then trailed behind his new teammates as they followed Riku.

* * *

Roxas had never seen so many naked guys in his life. Everywhere he looked a guy was taking off a towel, whipping someone's ass with a wet one, or showering. He walked self-consciously through the showers, clutching the towel around his waist so tightly his knuckles turned white. He walked past the wet bodies to the shower at the end. He dropped his towel and let the water run over him.

"Hey everyone, look at Roxas' tiny schlong!" Riku pointed and suddenly all eyes were on him. Roxas' entire body went red and he tried to cover up. He'd hoped unrealistically that they wouldn't notice that he was the smallest one on the team - in every aspect imaginable.

Riku stepped up to him, and Roxas reached out for the one thing that may be able to redeem him. "You know, studies show that the guy with the largest penis in the locker room is probably gay, and can't control the erections he gets when he sees all the naked boys."

The entire team burst into hysterics and Riku turned a horrid crimson. The condescending smirk slipped off his face and was replaced with a vicious snarl.

Roxas picked up his towel and covered himself with it, deciding he'd take a proper shower later when everyone else finished.

Riku turned and watched him walk out of the steamy room. The line had been crossed, and the blond had to be punished.

* * *

Axel noticed Roxas lingering and decided to wait out the crowd as well. When the last struggler left the building, he called the blond over to him.

"Hey, Rox, are you sure you know what you're doing?"

Roxas looked up at the redhead. "What do you mean? Aren't you the one who wanted me to struggle? You've been trying to teach me for months!"

Axel pulled his hoodie over his head and shoved his things back in his locker. "I didn't mean join the team! The people on this team are twice your size, and the people we're going to fight are even bigger! What if you get hurt?"

Roxas crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. "I'm not going to get hurt. I'm not as weak as you think. I beat Demyx, didn't I?"

Axel rolled his eyes and flung his bag over his shoulder. "Not only is he the weakest on the team, which I'm sure you could tell, but he has asthma and you hit him in the back of his throat. And if Demyx hadn't just finished fighting some other guy, I'm sure you wouldn't have won. It was a fluke Roxas, and you're really putting yourself in danger with this."

Roxas' mouth slacked open, and he opened and closed it, realizing he had no response to that.

"Just be careful, alright Rox? That's all I want."

He turned and walked out of the room, waving over his shoulder. Roxas stared conspicuously and couldn't help his eyes lingering, even if he was upset with Axel. He sighed as the door closed and grabbed his things, finally going to take a shower.

* * *

Roxas smiled into the spray of water gently hitting his face, proud that he actually made it onto the team. He had never actually felt that he could accomplish anything, let alone making his way onto the struggle team. He tried to forget the truths Axel told him as he ran his fingers through his hair. He couldn't wait to tell Zexion -

"You think you can make a fool out of me and get away with it?"

Roxas spun around, cupping his hands over his exposed manhood. Everyone had already left the locker room, and he was completely vulnerable in this state. "Who's there?"

"You think it's funny, embarrassing me in front of my team?" Riku stepped out from behind one of the stalls and Roxas backed up against the wall. He had nowhere to run, and Riku was blocking the only exit out of the showers.

"W-what do you want from me?"

Riku grinned. "I think the question is: what do _you_ want from me_?_ I see the way you look at Sinclair. I know you're queer. The rest of the team may be stupid, but I know things."

"I'm not gay."

"Come on, don't deny it _Roxy_. Since Sinclair's been screwing around with Namine, you've just been downright _miserable_. Don't look surprised, I told you I know things. I think I've found a way to cheer you up." Riku pulled his shirt over his head. "All a little queer like you really wants is to get laid right? Now, what kind of teammate, what kind of _friend_ would I be, if I didn't grant you this small favor?" He reached down and slid his belt off.

Roxas backed farther into the corner. "Riku, please. _Please_ don't do this."

"Come on Roxas. Don't deny your body what it wants." He continued advancing. "I know you want this."

"Please, _don't_!"

"Shut up."

* * *

Cliffy? I dunno.

_Review_


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry for the wait, people. Oh, and if you don't want to read an awkward unnecessary scene, skip down to the first page break. Fair warning.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing but my mind that likes doing mean things to poor Rox.

* * *

_Roxas smiled into the spray of water gently hitting his face, proud that he actually made it onto the team. He had never actually felt that he could accomplish anything, let alone making his way onto the struggle team. He tried to forget the truths Axel told him as he ran his fingers through his hair. He couldn't wait to tell Zexion -_

_"You think you can make a fool out of me and get away with it?"_

_Roxas spun around, cupping his hands over his exposed manhood. Everyone had already left the locker room, and he was completely vulnerable in this state. "Who's there?"_

_"You think it's funny, embarrassing me in front of my team?" Riku stepped out from behind one of the stalls and Roxas backed up against the wall. He had nowhere to run, and Riku was blocking the only exit out of the showers._

_"W-what do you want from me?"_

_Riku grinned. "I think the question is: what do you want from me? I see the way you look at Sinclair. I know you're queer. The rest of the team may be stupid, but I know things."_

_"I'm not gay."_

_"Come on, don't deny it Roxy. Since Sinclair's been screwing around with Namine, you've just been downright miserable. Don't look surprised, I told you I know things. I think I've found a way to cheer you up." Riku pulled his shirt over his head. "All a little queer like you really wants is to get laid right? Now, what kind of teammate, what kind of friend would I be, if I didn't grant you this small favor?" He reached down and slid his belt off._

_Roxas backed farther into the corner. "Riku, please. Please don't do this."_

_"Come on Roxas. Don't deny your body what it wants." He continued advancing. "I know you want this."_

_"Please, don't!"_

_"Shut up."_

He fisted the blond hair and twisted, ignoring Roxas' yelp and forcing him to his knees. Roxas whimpered as he kneecaps stuck the ground.

Roxas closed his eyes as Riku began stepping out of his clothes. He heard Riku rustling with something but refused to open his eyes. Riku approached the blond, who was breathing hard through his mouth, trying desperately to stay calm. He choked when Riku suddenly shoved himself into his mouth.

"Open your eyes." Roxas did as he was told and then yelped around the member in his mouth. "If you bite me, you're dead." He warned, dangling a pocket knife in front of Roxas' eyes. "If you do a good job I just might reward you."

Riku buried his hand in a fistful of Roxas' hair and began roughly fucking his throat. He thrust hard and fast, and Roxas could barely breathe. Gagging around the flesh in his mouth, he pushed at Riku's hips but nothing helped. Riku continued to force himself down Roxas' throat and the harder the blond pushed at him, the harder he slammed into his mouth. It was only when Roxas' face began to lose color that Riku finally pulled out with a sickening _slurp_ and Roxas sputtered, trying to breathe and spit out the foul flavor in his mouth all at once. He violently gasped for breath before the back of Riku's hand connected with his face. He fell to the ground, the unexpected attack too much for him to handle.

"You didn't bite me, but you didn't get me off. You know what? I'm feeling generous today, so I'll reward you anyway. On your hands and knees." He ordered, but Roxas lay still on his side. "Don't make me ask you again."

Roxas turned over and did what he was told.

"Stay still and you won't get hurt any more than necessary." Riku got down on his knees behind him, spread his cheeks, and spit on his opening. Roxas began to cry, never having been so humiliated in his life. "You a virgin, _Roxy_?" The blond nodded his head reluctantly. "So I guess I should go easy on you, huh?" Roxas nodded again. "Wouldn't you know, I'm not really in the mood to be gentle." He smacked Roxas' ass and then planted his hand on the small of his back. Roxas steeled himself, bracing himself for the pain he knew would come, but nothing could have prepared him for the pure agony he felt as Riku ripped into him the first time. Riku hissed in pleasure as Roxas screamed in agonizing pain. He pulled all the way out and slammed into him again, and if possible, Roxas screamed even louder.

"Fuck! You are so tight!" Roxas whimpered as Riku continued pounding into him quickly and powerfully so that the pain never had a chance to dull. Riku leaned over and pressed his back to Roxas', wrapping his arm around the blond's neck. "Shut up, faggot. Kiss me." Riku forced Roxas' head to the side and captured his lips in a rough kiss. He shoved his tongue into Roxas' mouth and made quick work of exploring his mouth. He bit at his lips and Roxas' cried out as he felt him break the skin. Riku kept biting and shoving his tongue into the blond's mouth, mixing blood with saliva. He pulled away and rested his forehead right under the nape of Roxas' neck. He kept drilling into the blond mercilessly, reveling in the feel of the warm blood surrounding his cock.

"Moan for me. Call out my name."

Roxas did as he was told, letting out small moans and repeating a deadened mantra of 'oh yes, more, Riku!'

"Ah, yeah, you're so fucking tight, you're so fucking good you fucking fag. God you're so good to me." Riku began pounding into him even faster than before, losing all control. "You're so fucking good, such a fucking whore for me. You love my cock in your ass. _Fuck_!"

He kept thrusting until he began to shake, and then plunged himself in deep one last time. Roxas felt vomit build up in the back of his throat as Riku erupted inside him.

Riku sat down and smiled, watching Roxas' shivering body.

"Come for me."

Roxas looked at him, shocked. Surely he couldn't really expect him to even get hard after that…

Roxas sat up as Riku crawled over to him. "Come here and kiss me." Roxas leaned forward and reluctantly pressed his lips to Riku's, who took it upon himself to deepen the kiss. After sufficiently ravaging the blond's mouth, they separated and he sat back.

"Now come for me."

"W-what do you want me to do?"

Riku rolled his eyes and twirled the knife in his hand. "Place your hand around your cock, and pump it until you come."

Roxas did as he was told, but no matter what he tried, he couldn't get hard.

"I can't. I can't do it."

"Oh yeah? Try fingering yourself, then. Now."

Roxas closed his eyes as he reached in between his legs and pressed his finger against the sore ring of muscle. He hissed as his finger slid in and slowly moved it in and out. Riku watched this display and began to stroke his own member which was already stiffening again.

"Add a second finger."

Roxas complied, and his breath hitched as the second digit entered. Riku continued stroking himself silently and slowly crawled over to Roxas. He placed his hand on the blond's member and slowly began caressing it. "Just give in to it and come for me."

Roxas held his breath and squeezed his eyes shut as Riku fondled him. He imagined it was Axel who was doing this to him, and instantly he began to harden.

"That's it, just let go. Give in to it, I know you want this."

Soon Roxas was fully hard, and so was Riku. Roxas opened his eyes when Riku's hand released him. He watched as the older man leaned back, propped up by his elbows.

"Looks like I'm hard again, Roxas. What are you going to do about that?"

"Whatever you want me to," the blond answered, resigned.

"Good answer, _Roxy_. Come over here and climb over me." He did. "I want you to lower yourself onto my cock." Roxas obeyed, and noticed that it didn't hurt quite as much when he was entered this time. Riku took hold of Roxas' member and began pumping. "Now ride me."

Roxas closed his eyes and did as he was told, bouncing on Riku's dick. With his eyes closed like this, Roxas could easily imagine that he was not being raped, that there wasn't a knife in Riku's left hand, and that he was somewhere else entirely, making love to Axel. Riku sat up and leaned against the shower wall as Roxas rode him up and down. Riku's hand on Roxas' cock never ceased, and the blond was overcome with pleasure as his prostate was hit. He screamed out in pleasure and tried to hit that spot each time. Riku thrust up to meet the blond's movements and Roxas leaned forward and captured Riku's lips, pretending they were the lips of another. He thrust his tongue into Riku's mouth and took advantage of it. He tangled his hand in Riku's smooth silver strands and imagined they were thick red spikes. Their lips flew apart as Riku hit his prostate again and Roxas threw his head back, howling in ecstasy. His muscles clenched around Riku who came easily, letting a string of curses fall out of his mouth. Roxas reached his peak and exploded onto both of their chests.

"Axel!" He screamed, trembling as the waves of pleasure overtook him.

Riku's eyes flashed with anger as he pushed Roxas onto the floor. He brought the knife to the blond's throat. "What did you just say?"

Roxas gulped as the pleasure quickly vanished and was replaced with fear as he snapped out of his fantasy. "I- I didn't - I didn't mean to! I said Riku! I was moaning your name!"

"Liar!" He punched Roxas in the face and his skull bounced against the tile. "Do you think I'm stupid? Obviously my message wasn't clear. You are mine, Roxas. You're mine. You do what I say when I say it, and you _don't_ call out some clown's name while you're coming for me." He threw the knife over into his pile of clothes and grabbed Roxas' face with both hands. Their lips crashed together and Riku shoved his tongue to the back of Roxas' throat. He left his mouth and moved to the blond's neck, and left a trail of harsh, bleeding bites. He lingered on one spot for a minute and then pulled back, staring at the mark he made.

"You're mine. I'll do whatever I want with you. If you cover that up, I will find you and make you scream. If you tell anyone, I won't hesitate to slit your pretty little throat. Don't _fuck with me._" He crashed his lips into Roxas' once more, and then got up. He aimed a kick at Roxas' stomach and grinned as he choked and wretched. He cleaned himself off and got dressed.

"Clean yourself up, you look disgusting."

Riku turned on the shower head above Roxas and watched as the water rained down on the back of his head before smirking and turning around. He walked out of the showers and opened the door to leave before calling back over his shoulder.

"See you at practice."

Roxas stared at the silhouette before the door blocked it out. Then the vomit came.

* * *

The struggle matches wore on, but Coach Armstrong had yet to take Roxas off the bench. Friday afternoon found them at struggle practice once more. Roxas watched as Axel and Hayner sparred against each other, and just as Hayner seemed to be gaining the upper hand, the redhead stood victorious. He jogged over to the team and high fived a few people, sticking his tongue out childishly at a disgruntled Hayner. He walked over to Roxas and sat beside him.

Roxas smiled and looked up at him. "Good job, Ax."

He grinned down at him and ruffled his hair. "Thanks. So what's up Rox? I feel like I haven't seen you lately."

Axel was right. No one had seen him much lately. Roxas looked over at Riku, who had just begun struggling against Demyx. "I don't know. I've just been... busy. And you've been with Namine..."

Axel clasped a hand over Roxas' mouth. "Shh!"

Roxas yelped and began clawing at the hand over his mouth. "Don't! Don't ever do that to me."

He got up and stormed off the pitch towards the lockers.

"Roxas? Roxas!" Axel got up and jogged behind the blond. He spun him around, and saw tears pooling in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

Roxas shook the hand off. "Nothing. I'm fine, just leave me alone." He turned to leave again, but Axel grabbed his arm. "I said leave me alone!"

He pushed Axel who, caught off guard by the sudden force, lost his balance and fell backwards. He looked up at Roxas and sneered at him. "What the fuck happened to you?" Axel stood and grabbed the blond's shoulders, tightening his hold until his fingers were sure to leave bruises when Roxas tried to pull away. "Tell me what's going on," his eyes wandered down the blond's neck. "What's that?"

Roxas stared defiantly into the green irises until he couldn't take the anger and sincerity he saw in them anymore. He brought his hands up and tried to push him again. "Leave me alone."

"Roxas! Tell me!"

He tried to jerk away from Axel but his grip was too strong. "No! Leave me alone! You know, if your mom was half as obnoxious as you're being right now, it's no wonder your dad left!"

Axel froze.

"I didn't mean that."

Axel's hands fell to his side as he backed away from the blond. The muscles in his jaw were working as he fought to contain the emotions coursing through him. He smacked the hand away when Roxas tried to reach out.

"Fuck you, Roxas."

"No wait! Axel, I'm sorry!"

The redhead walked away, flipping Roxas off as he left.

Roxas ran behind the building and collapsed against the brick wall, letting the tears run over his cheeks.

"Hey."

Roxas picked his head up and swore.

Riku kneeled in front of the sobbing blond and grabbed his chin. "Hey now, don't cry. I know what'll make you feel better." He grabbed the blond's wrist and pulled him roughly to his feet. "Let's go." Riku dragged the blond to his truck following. He started the car as the blond sat in the passenger seat and closed the door. Roxas dropped his head against the tinted windows, resigned to his fate.

* * *

"Oh my god, Seifer! More! Ah! Ah! Harder! Yes! Yes!" Olette's body jerked as she hit the wall and slowly slid down it.

"Come here, Fuu"

The quiet girl rushed over to him and practically hopped on his throbbing member. Seifer pushed her up against the wall and began pounding into her mercilessly, his repeated "Fuck!" only interrupted by her barely audible whimpering and Olette's heavy breathing from the floor beside them. His thrusting became erratic as he reached his peak, and just as they were about to go over the edge, the door opened.

Seifer dropped Fuu on the ground, tucked himself back into his pants and spun to the door in one swift motion, and couldn't believe what he saw.

Axel was backing into the room with one arm around the blond girl attached to his front and the other trying to single-handedly work open a condom.

"Ahem."

Axel and Namine broke apart suddenly, both adorning identical looks of guilt.

"S-Seifer! It's not what it looks like! We were just- we were..." Seifer was clearly not buying anything she said, so she just came out with it. "Seifer, please don't tell Hayner."

"Olette, Fuu, clear out, will ya? And don't say anything to anyone, alright?" Olette exited first, and as Fuu was leaving he grabbed her arm and pulled her back him, crashing his lips into hers and whispering in her ear. "Sorry Fuujin, we'll finish up later, okay? Without Olette."

She nodded and kissed him on the cheek before leaving the room, shutting the door behind her.

His face hardened as he turned to face the two behind him. "Well, it seems we're stuck in an interesting situation, then. Here I am, having a little fun with my girls in the closet everyone knows belongs to me, and in comes the new kid with my best friend's girl."

Namine started forward. "Seifer..."

He put his hand up to silence her. "Now see, I'm torn here. On the one hand, Hayner's been my boy for years. But then here's sweet little Namine, who's always there for everyone, who would never hurt a fly," He crossed his arms over his chest. "So, what should I do here? Should I tell Hayner the truth, or let Namine keep up with the lies that will, inevitably, fall from under her regardless?"

"Seifer, please don't tell Hayner. Me and Axel have been... together... for a while now. I'm going to tell Hayner, I am, I just... the timing's not right."

Seifer chuckled humorlessly and turned to walk out.

"Seifer!" Axel called out, unsure of what he could possibly say.

"Relax," he threw over his shoulder. "I'm not gonna tell him. But I'll be there watching when this all falls apart." And with that, he was gone, the door shutting behind him.

Axel stared at the door, unsure of what to say. Maybe they shouldn't be doing this. Namine and Hayner have been together for two years, whereas Axel has only known her for a few months. And here he was, about to take her virginity from her. What was wrong with him? Why had he let this go on so long? Why did he allow himself to be the secret? The sordid affair? The... other woman. His ruminations ended when he heard a sob escape the small girl. He turned and saw that her entire form was shaking and her face was buried in her hands.

"Namine, please don't cry." Another sob wracked her frame and she slid down the wall. Axel dropped to his knees in front of her and lifted her chin with his fingers, his green eyes piercing her blue. "Please, don't cry. I can't bear to see you like this."

She leaned forward and captured his lips, then broke it with another sob. "I shouldn't be doing this! What's wrong with me? Hayner is my best friend! What kind of person does this to their best friend? I'm a horrible person!"

Axel pulled her to his chest. "No, you're not. You're a great person Nami. You're always helping others, always making sure they're happy. Do I make you happy?" She pulled back to look at him.

"Huh?" Her brows furrowed in confusion.

"Do I make you happy?"

She blushed and averted her eyes. "Yes. Happier than I've ever been."

Axel grinned. "And I feel the same way. So how can this be wrong if we're both so happy?" She opened her mouth as if to interrupt but he plowed on. "Everyone has the right to be selfish every once in a while, especially you. You deserve to be happy."

Namine smiled and it set Axel's heart on fire, as hokey as it sounded. She got up and pulled her with him. "Come on. We don't have to figure this out right now. Can I come over later? We can watch a movie... Or do other things..." She placed her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him down to kiss her, her other hand traveling down his chest. When she reached the top of his pants, he gently pushed her back and laid his forehead on hers. He ignored her pout and tried to make what he had to say perfectly clear.

"Namine, we don't have to- Well, I mean, I don't... I don't want to have sex with you." She pulled back from him, looking hurt and offended. He quickly grabbed her hand, pulled it to his lips, and placed a kiss on her knuckles. "No, just hear me out, okay? You know that I'm not a virgin. But you are. I just don't want you to regret anything you do with me. I care about you too much to let you do that to yourself."

Namine produced a tiny smile and nodded, grasping his other hand.

"The bell will ring soon. I'll see you after school?"

Axel nodded and watched as she left the room first. He waited a couple minutes before doing the same.

* * *

_Awkward Seifer scene is awkward. Awkward Riku scene is awkward._

_Awkward chapter is awkward._

_Reviews are always nice. :)_


	7. Chapter 7

I'm so sorry for the wait, stuff just started cropping up and I'm really no good a time management.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own a thing.

* * *

More than once Axel caught himself heading over to Roxas to tell him about his latest tryst with Namine, and it was only at the last second that the sour memory of his last encounter with the blond reared in the back of his mind and he immediately veered off course. His only condolense was the other blonde in his life, though her presense didn't quite fill the void his friend had left in his wake. If not for his pride, not only for himself, but his mother as well, Axel would have run back to his boy immediately - but that wasn't the case. So he turned his gaze from the blond and took a seat with the struggle team.

"Axel, man, you pummeled Riku in practice yesterday." Hayner laughed as he slapped Axel on the back good-naturedly, and the redhead grimaced before forcing out a chuckle. He never failed to feel mountains of guilt whenever the boy was around. "I don't know how you do it man, i've been struggling with him for years and ive never come close to beating him. Youve got some serious skill going on."

Axel shrugged and laughed off the praise, unsure of what to say so instead just digging in to his sandwich. His gaze flickered up and captured Namine's briefly as she approached his table, and something uncomfortable squirmed in his gut. This was unusual for her. He took solace in the fact that Namine seemed as uneasy as he felt as she sat beside Hayner. Axel forced himself not to watch as Hayner turned his head and captured the blonde's lips.

He bit into his sandwich and prayed he would never be in such an awkward position again.

* * *

Roxas often wondered if he should confide in someone the details of his encounters with Riku. He contemplating telling Axel or Zexion, but he brushed the notion off each time — that was too humiliating. So he kept his situation to himself.

Riku still strutted about the school with Kairi on his arm, as if nothing had changed. Kairi looked at Riku as though he was a god sent to earth, worthy of her praise and admiration. She dangled him in front of other girls, as if she'd one some grand prize. And every time she kissed him... Roxas shuddered in pure disgust. Did they still sleep together? Kairi probably relished each moment they spent alone. Roxas wondered if the dense redhead knew that her boyfriend was a rapist.

He shook the thought off. If he thought of Riku as a rapist, that would make him a rape victim. Not only that, but it would imply that Riku was a human being, capable of rape and other such crimes, when he was no more than a monster. There was nothing human about him — Roxas didnt doubt for one moment that there wasnt a heart under that pale skin.

Roxas walked around the school to wait out the football practice. He'd been instucted to wait until Riku could come get him.

That was the worst part of the whole ordeal — that Roxas actually did as he was told, too afraid to disobey. Too afraid of what may happen to him.

He tensed as he heard footsteps approaching from around the corner of the building.

Always afraid.

* * *

"Namine, we talked about this." He reached down and clasped her hand in his, effectively pulling it away from the bulge in his jeans. Namine at least had the decency to look ashamed of her actions.

This was the second time since they'd gotten to her house that she'd tried to take things further than Axel was willing to go with her, and he was beginning to get a bit annoyed.

"But... come on!" She pleaded, and Axel rolled his eyes before pushing her off of him and scooting to the edge of the pristine white couch. He ignored her pout and silenced any further pleas with a stern glare. Sometimes he felt like he was getting it on with a child.

He held his resolve until she trailed a hand up the back of his neck and teased the hair there. Determined not to let her pull anything else, he pushed her down and crawled over her, holding her hands above her head.

Axel was just beginning to lose all sense in the kiss when the door opened behind them. They immediately parted with a wet smack as their heads swiveled toward the door.

"As you were," Riku said offhandedly, rubbing at his bruised knuckles. Axel took in the sight of his swollen lips and wondered what the douchebag had been up to. "Carry on."

But Axel wasn't in the mood to do anything now that he'd been caught by Riku of all people, and immediately returned to his corner of the couch. Namine straightened her white dress and stared at her brother suspiciously. "Where have you been?"

He narrowed his eyes and ignored her, walking through the room.

"Wait!" Riku stopped, but didn't turn around. "Don't tell."

Axel held his breath and awaited his respone in painful inpatience. If he didn't keep their secret, he was done for. It was bad enough Seifer knew, but Riku has reason to out them. He and Axel dont get along, at all. Axel's the only one who'd ever beat him in a struggle, surely he'd jump at the chance to humiliate him. If people found out he'd be shunned by the team, he'd lose his position, he'd lose his chance at a scholarship, he'd -

"Return the favor."

Axel blinked at him in confusion, but Riku just walked out of the room. He turned his questioning gaze to Namine, who's face gave up nothing.

What the hell did that mean?

* * *

"What did you do?"

Riku pulled the blanket from over his head but left the pillow covering his face. His garbled reply was lost in the feathers.

"Riku."

He pulled the pillow away and took in Namine's no-nonsense pose, her arms crossed in front of her, before looking into her face. "Something bad."

Namine huffed and sat on the foot of the bed, crossing her right leg. "Obviously."

"You can't say anything."

"You know I won't; not when you know about Axel."

Riku sat up and stared at his sister. "I want your word."

"Fine, fine. Out with it, then."

He flopped back, unable to look Namine in the eye.

"I raped someone."

As it was, he had his eyes clenched shut, and only heard Namine stumbling over herself to back as far away from him as possible.

"More than once."

Namine's eyes darted about the room and she gnawed at her bottom lip. When she spoke her voice was barely above a whisper. "When?"

Riku ran his hand through his hair and gave a yank at the roots. "An hour ago."

"Who?"

Riku's eyes flashed in anger and he shot up from his position, sneering. "Who? Who the fuck do you think Namine? Use your pretty little head for one second will you? Who the fuck do you think?" Riku fell back and pulled the pillow over his head again. "God fucking damn it!"

Namine had no idea who Riku was talking about. Morbid curiosity prodded her to ask again, but she had a feeling she really didn't want to know. She couldn't walk around with that knowledge.

"You have to stop."

Namine's hands hung loose at her sides, and Riku didn't move. When he did, it was to slowly slide the pillow from his face and replace it with his hands.

"No."

* * *

What's this? Something stupidly weird happening? Or just Riku being stupidly weird?

I don't know. Or maybe I do.

I'm also aware that this is stupidly short. I just got this laptop and the rest of this chapter is actually on my old one. I was far too lazy to transfer it over, so that'll be in the next chapter.

_Reviews are nice._


	8. Chapter 8

I know I've made gratuitous use of my M rating before, but be seriously, seriously **warned**. This chapter contains horrible, **_horrible_ M rated stuff**. Seriously, take heed.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything but the twisted mind inside my head.

* * *

Axel walked onto the sandlot early, sitting on the bench and waiting for the rest of the team. He put his headphones in his ear and listened to his CD player. He didn't hear Roxas coming up behind him, and jumped when he was poked in the shoulder. He turned and pulled out the headphones when he noticed the blond.

"What do you want?"

"Uh... So, what's up?"

"Cut the shit, Roxas." Said boy flinched at the verbal lashing. "You haven't spoken to me in weeks. What the hell do you want?"

Roxas looked down and shuffled his feet awkwardly. "I just... I'm really sorry. If you'd give me a chance to explain..."

Axel crossed his arms. "I'm waiting."

"Not here. Could you meet me tomorrow? At the clearing?"

He rolled his eyes. "I don't know. I'm gonna be with Namine tomorrow."

"Well, whenever you're done. I'll be there all night."

"Alright, Roxas." The blond turned to walk away. "You're not staying for practice?"

Roxas looked back over his shoulder. "Not today. Tell coach I'm sick or something."

And with that, he left, not noticing the eavesdropper hidden in the shadows.

* * *

Axel was laying across his couch, and Namine was above him. Their mouths were attached, hands roving everywhere, as they had been for the better part of an hour. Namine had removed both their shirts a while ago, and Axel was fumbling with her bra. He achieved his goal and flung it across the room. He sat up and pushed her onto her back, crawling over her and taking control. He started kissing his way down her body. She lay there shivering and pulled him back up to kiss her.

"Axel, I'm ready."

He froze and stared into her eyes.

"Nami... Are you sure?"

She nodded, smiling at him. He kissed her excitedly and picked her up, carrying her to his bedroom. He burst through the door and shut it behind him, then walked to the bed. He laid her gently on the bed and took down his jeans. He watched as her eyes widened and her mouth made an O as she saw the size of his manhood. He smirked and approached her, sliding her skirt and her panties down her legs and throwing them somewhere. He crawled over her and kissed her, relishing the feel of flesh against flesh. Reaching over to the bedside table, he pulled open the drawer and fumbled until he found a condom. He slipped it over himself and then ran his hands down her sides, never taking his mouth away from hers. He spread her legs and positioned himself at her entrance.

"Are you sure?"

"Will it hurt?"

Axel brushed a hair out of her face. "Only a little."

She nodded, smiling. "I'm ready."

He entered her slowly, feeling that she had stopped breathing. He looked into her eyes the entire time and froze as she cried out.

"No, no I'm fine. Keep going, Axel."

He took her word and kept pushing until he was buried in her completely. He pulled out and repeated it over and over, going as slowly as he could bear to go until he couldn't take it anymore.

He looked into her eyes pleasingly, and she understood immediately. "Faster, Axel."

He immediately changed pace, thrusting into her hard until he came. He pulled out of her and took off the condom, throwing it in the wastebasket beside his bed. He lay down with his stomach against her back. He kissed her on the back of her neck and lay there as she drifted off to sleep.

He held her, smiling, and happen to look up at the clock.

"Holy shit," he whispered. It was after 11.

He slid his arm out from under Namine and crept over to his closet to get some new clothes. He ran to the shower and threw the clothes on, making it out the door in a record 8 minutes. He drove out to the woods and jogged up to the clearing. He saw Roxas sitting against a tree, huddled into himself with his arms around his knees. He was wearing Axel's hoodie.

"Roxas?"

The boy looked shocked that he showed up. "You came..." He stood and walked closer, but still leaving a noticeable distance between them.

"What did you need to tell me?"

"I'm really sorry." Axel moved closer to hear the blond's low mumbling. "There's been a lot of things going on in my life... and I've been confused about a lot."

He stepped a bit closer, so that he could touch him if he chose to. "I don't like not having you to talk to because... well because..."

Axel stepped closer. "Because what?"

Roxas stretched up and captured Axel's lips with his own. Axel's lips molded to the blond's immediately before he froze and pushed him away.

"What the hell Roxas?" He wiped his arm across his mouth. "I'm with Namine!"

"But I really like you Axel!" He grabbed at his hand but it was yanked back immediately. "Why don't you want me? I'm your best friend!" Tears began streaming down Roxas' face.

"You know how I feel about Namine! A friend wouldn't try to take that away from me!"

Roxas fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands, sobbing.

Axel stood there, moving his arms awkwardly. "Look, Roxas. I'm with Namine, okay? I really like her, we've got something good going there."

Roxas looked up and sniffed. "You're her dirty secret."

"Regardless. I'm with her. If circumstances were different... I don't know. But you can't ask this of me."

They stood there in silence, neither knowing what else could be said.

"Did you ride your bike here?"

He shook his head. "Walked."

"Do you want a ride?"

He shook his head again. "No, Axel. I'll be fine. Just go."

"Are you su-"

"Just go!" His voice cracked as he shouted through his tears. Roxas watched as the redhead disappeared into the trees. '_If_ _circumstances were different…'_ He sobbed anew and barely heard the convertible drive off. He sat there for a few minutes before getting up and taking off in the opposite direction. He walked through the trees, climbing over stumps and logs.

"Roxas!"

He lit up. His luck was finally changing; Axel had come back for him!

He turned around with a grin on his face and stared straight into teal eyes. He yelped and began running, stumbling over roots and losing his way in the trees. A large rock was thrown from behind and hit him in the back of his head. He fell.

* * *

Axel's head was spinning. Roxas had kissed him. He could wrap his head around that much.

But everything else...

There were so many implications behind that kiss. So much hanging on that brief touching of lips. And Axel had said 'if circumstances were different'... surely Roxas couldn't expect Axel to just leave Namine like that. But what if he did? What if he broke things off with Namine? Would he just move forward with the blond? Could he?

How long had Roxas felt that way about him? How long had Roxas yearned for something more than the friendship Axel was offering? And how hadn't he noticed?

Although, if Axel was honest with himself, he'd known all along. He saw the way Roxas looked at him; it wasn't too hard to figure out.

_"Hey, Axel?"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"Did you think we'd be such good friends when we met?"_

_"... I don't know."_

_"What did you think of me?"_

_"I thought you were… interesting."_

_"Oh... I thought you were beautiful."_

Beautiful. Axel cursed himself for not picking up on the blond's feelings that summer night so long ago. How could he have been so stupid? It's no wonder the blond had been so cold with him recently, he'd practically been rubbing his relationship with Namine in Roxas' face. He should have diffused the situation earlier, done something to prevent this situation. But what could he have done?

If he thought about it hard enough, Axel could feel the stirrings of a few displaced feelings for the blond, but nothing he considered strong enough to act upon. He was suddenly stricken with guilt._ To act upon_. Actually contemplating the notion of acting upon feelings for someone else when Namine was so important to him.

But he had been meaning to talk with Namine, straighten a few things out. Roxas was right; Axel _was_ her dirty little secret, and he'd been meaning to remedy that.

Axel stripped down to his boxers and tried, unsuccessfully, to slide back in the bed without waking Namine. She was roused quickly and snaked her arms around his torso just as fast. "Where'd you go? The door woke me..."

"I went out to the woods, to talk to Roxas." He mentally berated himself for saying that. At this time of night, his actions would seem weird, and with all the thoughts running through his head, he couldn't trust himself not to say something.

"Roxas? At one in the morning?"

Axel swore to himself as he realized just how long he'd been out. "Yeah, he has some, uh, stuff going on. Guy stuff," he said, halting her before she could ask about the 'stuff' he was desperately trying to avoid. "You know I'm his best friend."

Namine shrugged and yawned before curling up into Axel's side. "Yeah. I haven't seen him around lately, it's weird."

Axel really didn't want to be having this conversation right now. "I guess he wants to give us space. And he's on the struggle team now, it takes up some time." Axel forced a yawn in the hopes that she would drop the topic until morning, or else forget it completely.

"I guess. I miss seeing him around I guess. You know," she began, tracing a hand up Axel's side absently, "I'm surprised Riku let him on the team. My brother hate Roxas. He's been after him for years..." Namine's hand stilled and Axel felt her breath stop for a second before she shook her head, dismissing whatever idea had been floating around in there. "No, that's ridiculous." She mumbled to herself.

Axel angled his head so he could take a better look at her face lying on his chest - she looked confused and more than a little troubled. "What?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Nothing, I just thought - nothing. I'm really... tired."

Axel sighed and ran his fingers through Namine's hair and listened as her breath evened out. He let his thoughts turn back to Roxas' confessions, and his own confusion about it all.

He only wished struggling with his feelings was as simple as struggling an opponent.

* * *

Roxas came to with hands around his neck. His head snapped to the left as he was backhanded.

"What did I tell you?"

There under the trees, not even the faint glow of the stars reached them. Riku pounced on him, furiously ripping at his clothes, practically foaming at the mouth. In a matter of moments he had Roxas turned on his stomach, bare ass up, and was pulling his own pants down around his hips. Roxas struggled, trying in vain to scramble away, but in one swift, painful movement Riku entered into his completely unlubricated opening and pounded repeatedly, roughly, mercilessly. He raked his nails down the blond's back, nails drawing blood in their wake. Roxas screamed as Riku continued the torture, dragging his nails through the wounds, the combined pain of this and the raw intrusion becoming unbearable.

"Riku! Stop! Please!"

Riku slowed and completely pulled out of the blond, who sighed in relief, but the reprieve didn't last for long. Riku flipped Roxas over and punched him in the face. Roxas cried out as his nose made a sickening /crunch/, then again when the fist came down once more. Riku rose and stood over him.

"You! Belong! To me!" Each word was accentuated with a stomp to Roxas' torso. He gasped as the wind was completely knocked out of him and turned to the side to spit out some blood. He heard the leaves crunch under Riku's receding feet and attempted to get away. Upon standing, however, he realized that he couldn't see straight and had no sense of balance. He grabbed his pants, leaned on the tree nearest to him and slowly walked from tree to tree, looking for some way out. He reached a big oak that he recognized from the way in and walked around it.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" Roxas broke into a run but only made it a few yards before collapsing. He laid there with his face in the ground, sobbing as he heard Riku approaching and knew he could do nothing to save himself. He was flipped over to stare into angry eyes. Riku smiled wickedly and held a stick over his face. "I brought you a present, bitch. But you can't have it yet, I'm not done with you."

Flipping Roxas over, he rammed into him. Every pleasured groan was drowned out by a pained scream. Riku wrapped his hand around the blond's neck and squeezed, applying more pressure with each thrust until he came inside him. Roxas expected that Riku would leave him there, in the middle of nowhere, but screamed louder than ever in newly agonizing pain as something larger and rougher than Riku's cock literally ripped into him. Riku laughed as he moved the branch faster, enjoying the sounds of the blond's crying and screaming. Eventually, Roxas went numb, unable to feel anything at all. With him no longer screaming, Riku lost interest in the action and ceased.

"Get up," he commanded.

Roxas slowly rose to his feet, focusing all of his energy on keeping himself upright and ignoring the pain in his backside.

Riku approached him, standing directly in front of him. "If I ever catch you talking to him again, your punishment will be much worse. You won't be able to stand for days. Stop fucking with me." He leaned in and sucked and bit at a spot on Roxas' neck before looking at him in disgust. "You're mine."

* * *

I'm sorry that you read that. I'm sorry for writing that.

Ugh, proofreading that was a pain, I just get an overwhelming feeling of _ICK_ with a side of _ohgodkillmenow_ every time I read over this.

_Review_, tell me how horrid my mind is.


	9. Chapter 9

What's this? Another timely update? Impossible, unheard of!

**Disclaimer**: I own nada.

* * *

Namine looked up from the couch as Riku walked in from his bedroom. He was freshly showered and his hair still hung damp, but that the water couldn't wash away the bruised fists and the bloodshot eyes. He sat on the opposite end of the couch and stared at his raw knuckles.

"Riku, you didn't."

He remained silent, and that was enough of a response for her.

"Riku!"

"What?" He barked at her, swiveling his head so quickly that drops of water flew from his hair onto her skin. "I told you I wasn't going to stop. I _can't_ stop. He's _mine_."

Namine gasped and covered her mouth. "'He'... ? Please tell me you aren't talking about-"

"Roxas?" Riku finished for her. "Who else Namine? Why do you ask such stupid _fucking_ questions?" He left into his room, but Namine didn't follow.

She stayed on the couch, legs tense and fingers curled. "Does... Does Kairi know?" She barely whispered it, but she knew he heard.

He came around the doorway, comb partway through a lock of hair. "Again with the idiotic questions." He continued running the comb through his hair. "No, and she won't find out. You gave me your _word_ you would keep your mouth _shut_."

"Why? He's just a kid! He - he never did anything to you!"

"Never did anything? He made my life hell!" He stormed over to his sister and stood over her. "Do you know how fucking hard it was for me to see him and not be able to have him? Do you have any idea how hard that was for me? And he'd just be there, taunting me, and I could never _touch_ him! How many faggots do you know, Namine? How many?" He threw his comb past her face and she flinched as it hit the wall behind her. "None! I know what people think about people like him - people like me! I bet you can't even stand me right now." He collapsed on the couch next to her, chuckling humorlessly when she visibly tensed. "I can't even stand me right now." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I'm gay and it's his fault, Namine. Don't you get it? It's _his fault_."

* * *

A week passed quietly. Axel hadn't seen Roxas much, as the blond had been absent for a few days. Struggle practice wore on, but Coach Armstrong was getting angrier with each passing day Roxas didn't show up. Riku was getting the brunt of the coach's anger - it was, after all, his fault the blond was on the team. Riku took his anger out on the entire team, making them run more laps than necessary. It was with these laps that Axel found himself preoccupied with when Namine called him over to the other side of the field, where the cheerleaders were arguing over who would top the pyramid now that Yuffie had broken a leg.

"What does Namine want, man?"

Axel looked at the boy jogging beside him. He felt horrible, knowing he was screwing his friend's girl. "I don't know. You know her better than I do."

Hayner sighed and wiped some of the sweat off his forehead. "I don't know, dude. You know, I haven't spent much time with her lately. She's always busy."

"No kidding..." Axel chuckled awkwardly.

"Yeah. She won't tell me what's up. I figured maybe there's some family stuff going on or something. I wish she'd tell me so could help her sort things out."

"Well, maybe she doesn't want to worry you." Axel offered.

"Maybe. I don't know. I hope things go back to normal before graduation," he paused to catch his breath. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm going to ask her to marry me."

"What?" Axel tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground. "What... What?" He asked confusedly.

"I'm gonna propose!" He reached out a hand and helped Axel up. "I've got it all planned out; it's gonna be great!"

Axel stared at the boy in shock. "Are you serious?"

Hayner grinned. "I am. I know we're young or whatever, but I love her."

"Oh. Well, that's... great," he offered, for lack of a better word. He looked over at Namine, who was waiting patiently. "I'm gonna go see what she wants."

He broke away from the track and started over to Namine, passing the other cheerleaders on his way.

"Oh, Kairi, I'm so jealous!"

"You're so lucky, Kai!"

Axel slowed as he passed the other girls, curiosity piqued. Kairi was standing proudly, beaming at the girls showering her with attention.

"How did you wind up with someone as great as Riku?"

Axel wrinkled his nose at the name but didn't speed up his pace just yet.

"So you guys are really going to the Islands together?"

Kairi giggled and flipped a lock of her red hair over her shoulder. "Would I lie to you? He called me last night and said he didn't want us to be separated when we went off to university." She paused for her listeners to voice their 'aww's before continuing. "And we both want to go to Destiny Islands, so we're applying to the island schools together!"

"I wish my boyfriend would do that for me. He's not applying to any of the universities I want..."

"Well," Kairi started, flipping her hair again. "Me and Riku are in love, and that's the most important thing to us -"

"Axel!"

He looked up to see Namine gesturing for him to come over. He'd been so enthralled in the idiocy of the cheerleaders' conversation he hadn't realized just how slow he'd been walking. He jogged the rest of the path to the bleachers and stood in front of Namine.

"Hey, cutie." She grinned up at him.

"Namine, I can't do this anymore. We have to end it." He tried telling himself this had nothing at all to do with Roxas. He tried.

"What? Why?" Namine looked frantic. She grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the bleachers. "What's gotten into you?"

"Namine, I can't do this anymore. Look, Hayner... He loves you. I mean he _really_ loves you. I can't let you ruin that."

"Don't _you_ love me?"

"No. I mean I do, but that's not the point! Hayner's my friend. You guys have been together for years and... Oh my god." His eyes widened in realization. "I slept with you. Oh my God I fucking slept with you!"

Namine gasped, offended, and yanked her hand from his. "Well if you didn't want to have sex with me, you could've said no! I thought we loved each other, that's why I gave myself you!"

"I wasn't thinking, I don't know, but I really regret it. I shouldn't have done that, we shouldn't - we shouldn't even be together! That guy over there," he turned and looked at Hayner who was still jogging around the track, oblivious to what was going on right behind his back. "Hayner really loves you. He's a good guy."

"I know he is."

"No, Namine, I don't think you do know. He wants," he took a second to align his thoughts. "He wants to marry you."

Namine gaped at him, speechless.

"He loves you. And you love him. I'm just the new kid, alright? Go back to him. Marry _him_."

"But I want to be with you."

Axel stood and backed away from her. "Well I don't want to be with you. Not anymore." Her eyes widened, and he grimaced at the harshness of his own words. "Are you… going to be okay?"

She gawked at him in disbelief and buried her face in her hands.

Axel stared at her, then at the rest of the confused cheerleaders who were now staring. He turned and ran back to the track. As Axel was passing him, Hayner reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Hey, man, what was that about? What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know. She's just stressed about cheerleading. You know how girls can be."

"Should I talk to her?"

"Just give her some space. Listen, I'm gonna go hit the showers and head home early, alright? See you later."

Hayner nodded and returned to his running. Axel walked to the locker room and got everything he needed, heading over to the showers. He stripped down and let the water run over him as he tried to push Namine out of his mind. He knew he was doing the right thing; it wasn't fair to either of them if he let things go on when he was so confused. He turned the water off and smelled something odd, so, wrapping a towel around his waste, he walked to the end of the U shaped shower bend. He didn't know what he had expected to see, but it certainly want what greeted him at the end.

"Roxas?"

Axel ran over and dropped to his knees in front of the blond, shaking his shoulders. The boy was unconscious, and as Axel's eyes lowered he realized that there was a long gash up his arm, and the blood was still flowing freely. There was no way to tell how much blood the blond had lost already, because as it hit the floor it mixed with the water streaming from the shower head. Axel gagged as he realized that he could see just how deep the cut was. He took the towel from his waist and tried wrapped it around Roxas' arm, right above the cut. He stood and ran out of the shower, grabbing another towel as he ran and stuck his head out of the door.

"_HELP!_"

* * *

Axel followed the ambulance to the hospital, along with a few other students' cars. He illegally parked, halfway on the sidewalk, and leapt from the car, tailing the stretcher his best friend rested on.

"Axel."

He turned around to see Roxas' slate-haired friend and struggled with his name.

"It's Zexion." The boy replied, sensing Axel's issue. "Shouldn't someone tell his father?"

Axel nodded and ran back to his car, still in shock.

"Can I come with you?"

"Sure, get in."

They drove in tension-filled silence until Axel turned onto Pinkel Drive. He stopped in front of the giant house and made to get out when Zexion stopped him.

"What are we doing here?"

"You said -"

"Roxas doesn't live here."

Axel shook his head. "Of course he does, I see him here all the time. I bring him here after school."

Zexion looked at the taller boy with a look close to pity. "Roxas doesn't live over here - he _works_ here. He's a housekeeper- he vacuums and cleans windows and stuff," Axel sat dumbstruck and the boy sighed. "Drive over to the warehouse district."

* * *

"This is where he lives."

Axel stepped out of his car and made sure he locked it behind him. He looked on in a mixture of awe and disgust as he approached the old, dirty trailer. Garbage and debris were scattered around the premises, and as Axel tried to pull the screen door open, he yelped as it fell off its hinges.

Zexion removed a key from his pocket and unlocked the storm door, pushing past Axel and into the house. He turned around and pressed a finger to his lips, telling Axel to keep quiet.

"Sir?"

Axel took baby steps and followed behind Zexion, wrinkling his nose at the stench of must, smoke, and alcohol. The floor below his feet was barely visible, too covered in papers, wrappers, and beer cans.

Zexion poked his head into each door until he reached the last one. "Sir?"

He pushed the door open and Axel was shocked at what he saw. A man - Axel assumed he was in his forties- was sprawled across the bed, a cigarette hanging out the left side of his mouth, and a beer can in his hand. The t-shirt he was wearing had obviously seen better days, and only a few clean spots in the void of brown gave away that it had once been white. His lower half was clad only in a pair of disgusting looking briefs that had been worn one too many times. Axel kept his distance as Zexion walked closer to the man.

"Sir, can you hear me?"

The man grumbled an incoherent response.

"Okay. Roxas is in the emergency room. You need to clean up and get down there."

The man mumbled again.

"What was that?"

"The hell has that boy done now?"

"He's really hurt, and we need to get down there now."

"He needs to man up." The last part of his statement was obscured by a deep belch.

"_Sir_! You need to get up. You have to get to the hospital, _now_."

Axel's eyes widened at the authority in Zexion's voice.

"I'm not going to the hospital. He's grown, he can handle it."

Zexion stomped his foot to control his anger. "You're son may _die_."

"That's life."

Zexion opened his mouth to scream at the man, but Axel beat him to it.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? That's your son! He's in the hospital, fucking _bleeding_ to death, and you're gonna stay here lying in your own shit?"

The old man looked shocked to see that there was someone else in the room, but his eyes glazed over again in seconds. "That's life. People die."

"We're leaving." Zexion said steadily. He turned and walked out of the room, grabbing Axel's arm and pulling him out with him.

Axel looked over his shoulder at the man, who started giggling into his beer. "Drop dead."

* * *

Shit just got real.

_Review._


	10. Chapter 10

College is so obnoxiously time-consuming. Which in no way makes up for how short this chapter is.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything.

* * *

"Where are you going?"

Riku turned to where Namine was sitting on the couch in Hayner's arms and raised an eyebrow. "Out."

She threw him a disapproving glare before removing herself from Hayner's hold and walking closer to her brother. "Roxas is in the hospital." She whispered, barely audible.

Riku's eyebrows furrowed before shooting up. He spun around and made for the door again.

"Stop! Where are you going?"

"I have to go see him." He hissed through clenched teeth.

"You need to leave him alone!" She told him, raising her voice. She heard Hayner rustling about in the next room and lowered her volume once more. "You've done enough."

"I didn't do anything!"

Namine stared at her brother in disgust. "Give me your keys Riku." She watched his eyes flickr as the thoughts ran through his mind. "The _fucking_ keys, Riku." She stuck her hand out and he reluctantly slammed his keys into her palm. "He tried to kill himself." She returned to Hayner in the next room, but not before seeing the look of utter shock on Riku's face.

* * *

"Do we really have to go through this again? I'm here _every_ day, you know who I am."

The elderly woman behind the desk sighed and nodded, placing the pen from her hand back in the pocket of her white jacket. "I know, just protocol. No matter, I suppose. Go ahead."

Axel thanked the woman before moving beyond the counter, counting the numbers of the rooms until he found the one he'd been looking for. He sat beside the bed and leaned past the beeping machinery.

"Gonna wake up today?" He studied the still face before him, noticing for the first time that his blond eyelashes were barely visible they were so light. "My mom'll be by later, she wants you back almost as much as I do." Axel started drawing patterns on Roxas' hand absently. "I really want you back; we all do. Everyone misses you, you know. _I_ miss you." He sighed and leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head and keeping an eye on the blond. "Wake up, Rox."

* * *

"Roxas." He fumbled with his fingers in his lap. "Please wake up."

The blond lay there, motionless save for the rise and fall of his chest, as expected. His fingers didn't twitch, the blanket covering him never shifted a bit. His hair was thrown every possible way and looked somewhat deflated, although it was clear someone had tried to make it look a little more presentable. There was a bandage wound high up his left arm.

Riku reached out and touched the bandages lightly. "Namine says you did this because of me. I know she's wrong."

He raised his hand to Roxas' face and let it trail down to his neck. Riku's hand tightened marginally. His eyebrows rose and he shook his head.

"Wake up."

* * *

Super short, but it's okay because the next part will be up tomorrow! Probably!

_Review_, please.


	11. Chapter 11

Just so you know, I'm really grateful that people keep reading and reviewing this even as it starts making less and less sense.

**Disclaimer**: I own zilch

* * *

"I think he's coming back."

"His eyes are opening!"

"Back up, we don't want to scare him, do we?"

"Roxas?"

Roxas opened his eyes to blinding brightness, shut them, and tried again. This time, a blur of red was marring the perfect whiteness.

"Axel?" His voice, unaccustomed to the strain of use, came as barely a whisper.

Axel broke into a grin and wrapped his arms around the boy. "I thought you were going to die!" He exclaimed, before lowering his voice to a sad whisper. "I thought you were gonna die, Rox."

Roxas smiled into the hug but couldn't return it. His left arm was covered in heavy bandages, while his right was hooked up to an IV. Axel was pulled away from the blond, who noticed tears in Axel's eyes, and a clean-cut stranger came into view.

"Roxas, I'm Doctor James Hartifay. I'm very pleased to see those baby blues of yours - after two months I wasn't sure if I'd ever see them open."

"Two months?" Roxas choked out. "What happened? How did I get here? What's going on?" His breathing became harsh and the heart monitor started beeping erratically as he started thrashing.

"Whoa there, don't make us have to sedate you, kid. You just woke up; calm down and I'll tell you everything you want to know."

Roxas steadied his breathing and nodded for the man to begin explaining.

"You tried to kill yourself, Roxas. You ripped open a pretty jagged slice in your arm there." He pointed to the bandages, and Roxas looked down at them, noticing their presence for the second time. "Luckily, your friend Axel found you and was able to stop you from losing more blood." Roxas glanced over at Axel who was sitting in the corner, frowning at his feet. "If he hadn't found you when he did, we'd have probably lost you. When you were brought to the ER we found that you'd lost more blood than we'd realized. It took us a few hours to find some blood to match, but once we had it we fixed you up in no time. You're arm will hurt for a while, by the way. The stitches didn't hold well at first, given how jagged the wound was.

But unfortunately, you wouldn't wake up. Your brain had been deprived of a proper oxygen supply for too long, and had all but shut down completely. We were lucky it even kept your heart beating all this time."

The room was silent as Roxas took all the information in. "When can I go home?"

"Well now, that depends," he looked down at his clipboard. "We'll need to keep you here another week - just to make sure you're alright. And if you respond well to the psychologist -"

"Psychologist?" He interrupted.

"You did attempt to commit suicide, Roxas. Well, if all goes well on that front, you'll be out of here in two weeks, tops."

"Two weeks... Can you leave?"

The doctor chuckled. "If that's what you want. I'll check on you later. Come on everyone, let's go."

Roxas watched as people he hadn't previously noticed began filing out of the room. Along with Axel and Dr. Hartifay, Zexion and Axel's mother were there as well. As she left the room, she planted a kiss on his forehead.

"Feel better, sweetheart."

* * *

Roxas was staring at the ceiling. He didn't know how long he had been staring, and he didn't care. So much information was running through his mind that he couldn't keep track of what was what. He didn't know what to think about anything, or if he even should. So he stared at the ceiling, thinking about everything that he wasn't sure he should be thinking about.

"Roxas?"

The blond turned at the whisper and saw Axel poking his head in through a crack in the door.

"Come in." He noticed that his voice had gotten better, but it was still a little raspy.

Axel closed the door behind him and locked it before pulling up a chair beside the bed. He saw Roxas staring at the door confusedly.

"Don't want any interruptions." He smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. My arms hurt but I'm fine."

"Do you need anything? Want some water?" He walked over to the pitcher and poured out a cup before Roxas could answer. Axel placed it next to him. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Roxas nodded, and took a gulp of the water, mostly for Axel's benefit. "What have I missed?"

"A lot. School's ending in two weeks. I asked Principal Storm if you'd be able to graduate with us, but you missed all of the finals. He says you'll have to retake the year."

Roxas nodded solemnly. "What about you?"

"Me? Well, I actually broke up with Namine the day I... Well you know. So yeah. I couldn't be a secret all the way to college."

"Where are you going?" Roxas asked excitedly.

"I'm staying local; Twilight Town University, only a dozen or so miles from home. I didn't want to leave my mom all alone."

"That's great. Where's _she_ going?"

Axel scoffed. "Namine and Hayner are both going to Radiant Garden, 1000 miles away from here."

"Why did you break up with her?" Roxas asked, masking the feeling of triumph bubbling up inside him.

"I don't know," he sighed. "I tried to convince myself I was okay with it, but I wasn't. It's been sorta tough without her though. And then you wouldn't wake up for so long, and I needed-"

"I'm awake now." Roxas mumbled.

Roxas stared into emerald eyes, and Axel averted them to his fingers laying uselessly in his lap. He glanced up and they stared at each other, both at a complete loss for words. They moved impossibly slow; any onlookers that could have witnessed it would think they weren't moving at all.

Their lips barely brushed, but a seismic shock tore through Roxas' frame. They stared at each other, eyes half lidded, until Axel let his drift shut and leaned farther into the kiss. Roxas' breath hitched and he responded enthusiastically. Their lips moved and Axel found his fingers twining in blond locks.

Axel crawled into the bed and lay on is side without breaking the kiss. His hand resumed its position in his hair as his tongue asked for entrance. Roxas obliged, resting a hand on Axel's hip while the bandaged arm supported his head.

It was slow and steady - anything but rushed. They had all the time in the world.

* * *

Well it's about time, don't you think?

_Review_, please


	12. Chapter 12

So it's about time those two got up to something good, eh? Thanks for reviewing kindly people of the interwebs.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything!

* * *

A knocking at the door woke them. Axel rubbed his eyes and grinned through his sleepy haze and a shyly smiling Roxas. He left a kiss on his cheek as he went over to the door, straightening his clothes along the way.

"Axel?" Zexion stepped into the room brandishing two cups of coffee. "Why was the door locked?"

"No idea." He winked surreptitiously at the blond and left the room.

Zexion sat in the chair next to the bed, and Roxas couldn't help being disappointed at the replacement.

"Hi Zex."

"Hey Roxas. You feeling alright?" Roxas nodded. "Well I'm not going to bug you then, I'm sure you're tired of the questions." He pulled on his earlobe in an extremely awkward fashion. "I'm here if you ever want to... talk. Remember that."

Roxas smiled. "Thanks."

"I have to admit something."

Roxas sipped at the coffee Zexion offered him. "Shoot."

"I really like you." The scalding hot coffee seared it's way down the blond's throat. "I can't even tell you how distraught I was when I saw you laying there unconscious. I couldn't help thinking, 'what if he dies? He'll never know how I felt.' And I don't want to wait anymore. I need you to know that I really care about you, and I want to be with you."

Roxas' jaw dropped and his eyes widened to almost comical proportions. "Uh-"

Zexion leaned in and captured his lips tenderly, but Roxas immediately yanked his head back.

"Zex, I'm sorry-"

"Axel, right? Of course." Zexion nodded curtly in frustration and got up, roughly wiping a tear from his face. "See you around, Roxas."

"Zexion!" He called out. The door slammed shut. Roxas put a hand over his lips in confusion, then brought his hand down to the bed in a fist. "Shit."

Axel returned a few minutes later holding a bottle of water in one hand and a bag from the local taco place in the other.

"Brought you stuff."

Roxas greedily took the food from him, finally realizing just how starved he was.

"Why are you all red? Still thinking about me?" Axel chuckled at his own joke while Roxas shifted uncomfortably. "Graduation is in two weeks, Rox," he said, sobering up.

Roxas swallowed a mouthful of water. "I know. You'll be leaving and I'll be taking the year over."

"Look on the bright side: you'll have a great second senior year. You won't seem quite as young this go round, and Riku won't be around."

Roxas blanched at the name. "You wouldn't happen to know where Ri- where he is going?"

"He's going to Destiny Islands. That fucker got a full scholarship to their best university and he's been rubbing it in all our faces." Roxas let out a breath he hadn't realize he'd been holding. "And that twit Kairi is trailing behind Riku as usual, like he shits a trail of bread crumbs for her to follow. I don't know how she's going to make it, she's dumb as a rock." He watched as Roxas took a hugely unattractive bite from his taco. "You know that kid Sora from the team? He's going out there too, that's where his family is from. Cool, huh?"

Roxas took a moment to take in what he'd just heard. Riku was going to Destiny Islands. Riku was going across the country. Riku would be out of his life. Riku would be _out of his life. _

"Can you get me a ticket to graduation?"

Axel grinned and pulled one out of his wallet. "I've got it covered."

Roxas smiled back. "Can you kiss me again?"

Axel chuckled deep in his throat. "I think I can handle that too."

* * *

"I don't want to be here."

"You have to tell me what you're thinking."

Roxas crossed his arms, wincing slightly when he put too much pressure on his hurt arm. "I'm thinking I don't want to be here."

The woman sitting opposite him pursed her lips in annoyance. "We've been at this for days Roxas. You know if you don't cooperate you can't go home. So let's just cut the nonsense here, okay? Why did you hurt yourself?"

Roxas stared at her stubbornly.

"Why did you hurt yourself?" She repeated.

"I didn't."

"Roxas, work with me here."

"What do you want me to say?" He screamed.

"I want you to answer my question and stop behaving like a child. Why did you hurt yourself?" She asked, exasperated.

"I... I can't tell you."

The woman relaxed in her seat with a sigh. "Why not?"

"Because I can't."

She tensed again - so much for progress. "Roxas, please."

Roxas sighed and ran a hand over his face. "I was sad. Everything was going wrong. So I tried to kill myself."

"Why did you feel this way?"

"The guy I liked didn't want me. That's all." That was _not_ all.

"So you're homosexual, okay, now we're getting somewhere. Were you bullied because of this?"

"No one knows."

She jotted down a few notes on her pad and Roxas wondered what she was writing. "And the boy you were attracted to, does he know?"

"Yes."

"And is he homosexual as well?"

"I'm... not sure," he admitted. "I guess he likes both."

"Okay, okay," she paused to write more things down. "So you weren't bullied at all?"

"Not for being gay."

"Were you bullied in general?"

"Yes. I'm younger than everyone. Smaller than everyone. People think I'm weird. It comes with the territory."

Her eyes widened a bit. "You shouldn't just accept that, Roxas. Have you told the administration at school?"

"They know."

"And they do nothing to stop it?"

"Nope," he answered, popping the 'p' in boredom.

She huffed and wrote some more. "Okay, so you were victimized, and the person you were attracted to didn't reciprocate. Can I asked what those people did to you?"

Roxas repressed the memories of his more recent encounters with Riku. "Nothing out of the ordinary. I got beat up a lot, is all."

"And you're sure that situation didn't contribute to your hurting yourself?"

"Positive. _That_ situation had nothing to do with it."

"Well then, tell me more about this boy you like."

Roxas sighed and looked past the woman, focusing on an obscure point on the wall behind her. "He's two years older than me, he's new in school this year, and we met over the summer. He's my best friend."

She nodded, urging him on.

"We spent a lot of time together at first. Then he started seeing this _girl_." He bit back his dislike. "She already had a boyfriend, so they snuck around a lot. He deserves better than that." He stiffened as he though about them together. "Stuff came up and we didn't talk as much. I tried to tell him I liked him, one day, but he rejected me."

"And how did you feel about that?"

Roxas rolled his eyes at the cliche. "Sad. I don't know."

"And is that when you decided to end your life?"

Roxas nodded. He was wasn't about to tell her about Riku. "Yes. A few days after that, I did it. Time's up." And he got up to leave.

The woman glanced at the clock and sighed. "That it is. Well, we made a lot of progress today, Roxas. I'll see you again tomorrow." And with that she called for an aide to escort Roxas back to his room.

* * *

Axel walked up to Namine's door and waited impatiently for her to answer it. He fidgeted, bouncing from one foot to the other, wringing his hands together until she opened the door.

"Axel! Hayner's coming over in a bit... what are you doing here?"

Truthfully, he didn't know what he was doing there. He told himself he was coming over to tell her about Roxas, but he had no idea why. He didn't owe her that information or any sort of explanation.

She frowned slightly at his lack of an answer and led him inside. "What's wrong?" She sat on the white couch and he sat on it as well, but on the opposite end.

"Roxas woke up yesterday."

"That's great! How is he?" She scooted towards him, and he moved to armchair across from her. She pouted.

"He's fine." Then he gestured between the two of them. "But we're not."

She leaned back and crossed her arms. "What do you mean?"

He rolled his eyes. This was why he came over; because even after he'd told her all that time ago that they were through, she just wouldn't let it die. She kept trying to weasel her way back into his life, and while admittedly he'd almost given in a few times while Roxas was in his coma, he just wasn't into her in the same way anymore, and she couldn't seem to grasp that concept.

"We're not together anymore, Namine."

Her eyes narrowed. "I know that. I'm not stupid." She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and pouted. "But we were so -"

"I kissed Roxas."

Namine's jaw dropped, her eyes widened, and her hands fell to her side. She felt like she was drowning. "Excuse me?"

"...I kissed Roxas."

Her face warped into and expression of complete fury as she she rose to stand over him. "You. Did. What?" Her teeth were clenched and Axel shrugged.

"I kissed him."

She pulled her arm back and slapped him. His head shot to the side and he glared back at her, ignoring the pain and the knowledge of the red handprint that would appear on his cheek within the next ten seconds. He stared at the tears in her eyes and couldn't tell if they were sad or angry.

He got up, towering over her petite frame, and she stumbled backward. "Don't touch me."

"Namine, calm yourself." He stepped towards her again but she backed away.

"Get away from me!"

"Oh my god, Namine shut up!"

She froze, shocked - he had never yelled at her before.

"The entire time we were together, you were constantly with Hayner. You were all over him all the time doing who knows what -"

"Yeah but that's not the same thing!" She interrupted.

"You're right! It's not! You made out with a dude the entire time we're together, I kissed a guy once, _after we've broken up_."

"A guy, Axel! You kissed a guy!"

"So what?"

"So you're just like R- you're a fag!"

They stared at each other, chests heaving. Namine was staring at him with wide, disbelieving eyes while Axel glared daggers at her.

"Well there it is then. Bye Namine."

And he walked out, passing Hayner who was just walking up the driveway.

"Hey man, what's up?"

"Your girl's been cheating on you." He answered nonchalantly. "See you later."

"Wha-"

Axel smirked as Hayner took off into the house and he heard the yelling begin.

* * *

I'm sorry for the long wait, university is _super_ time-consuming and stressful. When I did have free time, I spent it sleeping. So yeah, that's my pathetic excuse, my apologies.

Please _review_!


	13. Chapter 13

No time to chat, have to write more. I don't have any more chapters in cold storage just waiting to be edited. I've gotta get cracking.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything at all.

* * *

Once again, Roxas woke to a knock at the door. He sat up in the uncomfortable hospital bed and ran his hand through his hair before telling the knocker to come in. He regretted that decision as soon as he saw who was walking through the door. The unexpected visitor came and stood over the bed. Roxas surreptitiously grabbed the call button under his blanket where it wouldn't be noticed.

"How are you feeling, Roxy?" The sincerity in the voice was beyond surprising.

"I'm fine." They stared at each other in silence. "What are you doing here, Riku?"

"I just wanted to see if you were okay? Is that a crime?"

"No," _but everything else you did was_. Roxas decided to be personable at least, and maybe he'd leave quicker. "I heard you're going to Destiny Islands after graduation."

"Yeah."

"Yeah," Roxas echoed. _Please leave._

They stared in another awkward silence. Riku reached forward and Roxas tensed, ready to press the button for a nurse, only to have a strand of hair brushed off his forehead.

"I missed you."

Roxas' eyes widened. "I think you should leave."

And before he knew it rough hands held his face in place and lips crashed down on his. Roxas squealed, and tried to push him off, but with his injured arm he wasn't strong enough to much of anything. "I missed you so much," Riku mumbled desperately against his lips. "I'm sorry. I missed you so fucking much." He tried to push his tongue through Roxas' lips, but a knock at the door caught them. Roxas yanked his head back and gasped.

"Come in!"

Riku jumped away from him as the door opened and Axel came in walking backwards, arms full with a large brown bag.

"Hey, Roxas I brought y- why are you here?" He sneered at Riku.

"I was just leaving. See you later, Roxas."

The blond glared silently and watched him leave. Axel closed the door and brought the bag to Roxas. "What did _he_ want?"

"N-nothing. He just... asked if I was alright." He forced out a chuckle. "Weird, right?"

Axel shrugged. "You're getting out soon," he grinned proudly, "_so_... I went to your place and got you some stuff to wear. I'm sure you're sick of that hospital gown by now, am I right?"

Roxas smiled appreciatively for a moment until realization hit him. "Wait, what?"

"The hospital gown you're wearing. You're probably tired of it."

"You went to my house?" Roxas' breathing became shallow as the panic set in.

"Rox, calm down, will you?"

"How did you find where I lived?" He choked out.

"Zexion showed me after they brought you here."

"Oh no. Fucking _fuck_! Oh my god." He buried his face in his hands and pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes.

"Roxas, it's not a big deal."

"Yes it is! I've worked so hard to keep people from finding out, and I told Zex never to tell anyone where I live, and I don't know why the hell I gave him a key and - fuck! - you probably saw my pathetic excuse for a father, and the whole place is a filthy piece of garbage and now everyone will know and things will only get worse! And you - why the hell are you still here? Why would you want to be around me? I'm trailer trash? Why the hell are you here?" Roxas shouted, his chest heaving and eyes beginning to leak.

"Roxas, shut up." Axel said calmly. The blond stared at him ingignantly through his tears "Why did you lie to me? Did you really think that it would matter?" Roxas shrugged childishly. "All this time you've told me how bad it was to keep secrets, but you've been lying to me since we met."

"I guess I can't help it," Roxas spat defensively. "I'm trash."

"No," Axel raised his voice. "Your father is trash." His tone softened. "You should have just told me Rox."

Roxas let the tears fall for a few more seconds while they stared each other down. "Well, it's too late now. You know. So it doesn't matter."

Axel sighed, willing to let it go. "Fine." Then he thought for a moment. "Is there anything else you haven't told me?"

Roxas tensed briefly, but Axel didn't catch it. There was no way he'd tell him about Riku - how he'd been his play thing, had stopped fighting back. Axel would be revolted, there'd be no moving past that. He'd take that to the grave with him. "No. There's nothing else."

Axel grinned and kissed him quickly. "Good."

* * *

The time ticked away as Roxas sat before the psychologist for the last time.

"I know this is the last time we're meeting – and you've really said all you have to – but do you mind if I ask you something a bit invasive?"

Roxas tore his gaze away from the clock on the wall to look at her face. "Why not?"

"Have you ever been sexually assaulted?"

In the span of two seconds, Roxas' eyes bulged, he choked on his tongue, went dizzy, and composed himself again. "Why would you even ask someone that?"

"You display certain… mannerisms… symptoms, if you will, of a victim. I'm sorry if I am wrong, I didn't mean to offend you."

Roxas scoffed and returned to staring at the clock. "Well, you're wrong, and I'm offended. Good job." From the way she started scribbling on her notepad, Roxas didn't think she believed him.

* * *

"It's her loss, man. You have to keep it moving." He draped his arm over his best friend's shoulder. "You have to move on, man."

"Seifer, I can't. I love her more than anything. We were together for two years." He pressed a hand to his eyes to stop the tears' escape. "I was gonna marry her, man."

Seifer grimaced at the thought of marriage - monogamy was for chickenwusses - and ran his hand over his beanie. "Listen, man. She cheated on you for months. I know it's hard to hear, but it's the truth. Since you're my best friend and all, I'm gonna do you a kindness. How about I let you borrow one of my girls?"

"No, I don't-"

"Olette. Not Fuu, you can't touch Fuu. But Olette, you can borrow her for the whole summer if you want. She's a damn good lay, I taught her everything she knows. I'm telling you Hay, she'll get your mind off everything."

"Seifer, I don't really think-"

"Come on," he said, quickly turning them to the left, setting them walking down a different path. "We'll go to my house, Olette'll meet us there, and she'll show you what she can do." He took out his phone and began texting. "Namine will be a distant memory in no time, my friend."

* * *

The feeling of eyes burning into the side of his head woke him.

"Why did you do it, Roxas?"

The bed gave a loud creak as Roxas sat up, drawing the covers tighter around him. He was very thankful, now, that Axel had brought his clothes and he wasn't stuck in that flimsy hospital gown. He stared at the foot of the bed, lips and eyes shut.

"Why?"

He shook his head and brought his knees up to his chest. A hand on his jaw turned his head roughly.

"Why?"

Roxas opened his eyes and glared. "Because of you, you bastard! Are you fucking happy now?" He tore himself out of the iron grip on his chin and glared into aqua orbs.

Riku looked traumatized, as if someone had just murdered his entire family. "Wait, what?"

Roxas' blood was boiling, and being in the security of the hospital gave him the courage he hadn't had before. "What do you mean 'what'? You know what you did, stop acting like you don't know! This is all your fault!"

Riku's eyes flickered. "How is any of this my fault? All I did was love you! I didn't do anything wrong!"

The blond glared at his rapist in disgust. Riku seemed to be having an internal struggle; he was staring down at his twitching fingers, mumbling to himself.

"I didn't – Namine was right – I didn't do anything wrong – I raped – I didn't."

Roxas had had enough. He reached over to grab the call button but a hand caught his first.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Roxas met Riku's eyes for a moment before he lunged for the little remote. There was a mad flailing of arms before Roxas ended up on the floor and Riku was perched on top of him, button in hand, hovering just out of Roxas' reach.

"Why are you here? Why the fuck can't you leave me alone?"

Riku leaned over the blond, staring in his face. "I want you, is it so hard to understand?" His gaze flickered to the blond's lips as if he wanted to claim them; his eyes lingered there for too long and then flashed in anger. "Who touched you?"

Roxas tensed. "No one." He watched as a fist reared back to swing.

Riku seemed to remember where he was and, with effort, put his hand back on the ground. He stared into Roxas' eyes for an uncomfortably long time. "You've been with Sinclair, haven't you?" He backed off of the blond and sat on his knees.

Roxas jumped to his feet and hopped over to the other side of the bed, thankful he didn't have to IV in his arm anymore to constrict his movement. He put his hand on the doorknob and turned, but it didn't move. "Bastard," he mumbled as he unlocked the door and pulled it open before turning around.

"Get out."

Riku approached the blond slowly. "I wish you'd respect the way I feel about you. How could you do that to me?"

"Get _out_."

"I'll come back to see you, okay?"

Riku walked out. "Hey Riku!" Roxas called out. He had just made it to the elevator when Roxas' voice stopped him. "Don't."

Riku turned around and frowned as he backed into the elevator. They stared at each other as the doors closed; Roxas turned away when he saw Riku's jaw clench. He was angry now. Great.

* * *

Roxas was reluctantly sitting in a wheelchair with a nameless attendant gripping the handles behind him. Axel was standing beside him, holding his hand, and Dr. Hartifay was standing before him.

"Do I have to sit in this thing?" Roxas deadpanned for the twelfth time in the past five minutes.

The doctor chuckled. "Sorry, it's procedure." He turned to Axel. "You'll be driving him home?" Axel nodded affirmatively. "Okay then. Well, although I wish the circumstances were better," at this he glared disapprovingly at the blond, "it was great to meet you Roxas. And you've got a good friend here. Remember that." Axel squeezed his hand and the left the room.

In the parking lot, Roxas stood up and rolled his eyes at the man pushing the wheelchair, muttering a sarcastic 'thanks' and waving him off. The man wasn't phased, as this was probably the reaction he always received, and smiled before leaving with the chair. Roxas opened the door and climbed in his seat as Axel hopped into his.

"I'm not taking you to your house, Roxas." He announced as he pulled onto the main street.

"You're not?"

"No. You're coming home with me. I took a bunch of stuff from your place, so I think you'll be set."

"But what about my dad?"

Axel snorted. "What about him, Rox? We've both got no good fathers. I know it, and it's time you came to terms with it too."

"He's not that bad," Roxas murmured almost inaudibly.

"He didn't come to see you once while you were in that coma. Not once. He never even called to check on you. He didn't care if you lived or died, Roxas." He waited for Roxas to respond, and hoped the truth hadn't been too harsh. "You alright?"

"Just take me to your place."

* * *

After Roxas was showered with kisses from Axel's mom, he and Axel settled in the redhead's bedroom. Roxas plopped down on the bed and looked around the room he hadn't seen in months. He remembered that the walls had been completely empty, save for the picture of Axel and his mom. They were the same now, except for the two new pictures taped over the bed - one of Axel and Roxas, the other of Axel and Namine. Roxas glared at the latter. The shelves were all empty, and half-filled boxes were scattered around haphazardly. Axel noticed Roxas' foul look and quickly ripped down the photo of him in his ex.

"Sorry, I uh, forgot it was there." He chuckled and ruffled his hair as he tossed the picture towards the trash and missed. Roxas watched it flutter to the ground.

"What's with all the boxes?"

"Well, I'm gonna live on campus next year, and my mom could use the space, so I'm moving most of my stuff into the attic."

Roxas couldn't help being annoyed at Axel's complete lack of planning. Why did Axel bring Roxas to stay here if he was leaving in a few months? "Oh. When do you leave?"

Axel walked over and flopped down on the bed next to the blond. "End of August."

Roxas fell back so he was lying next to Axel and intertwined their fingers. "Looks like we've got one more summer."

They turned their heads to look at each other. Axel leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to the boy's lips. "Yeah. One more summer."

* * *

_Review _please!


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer**: Do you really think I own anything?

* * *

"Sinclair, Axel."

Roxas watched as Axel jogged up the stairs and shook Principal Storm's hand before he received his diploma, moved the tassel on the cap resting on his pulled-back hair, and jumped into the group of strugglers waiting on the other side of the stage. After a stern look from the coach, they settled down and went back to their seats. Axel grinned at his mother and winked at Roxas before sitting down.

Roxas ignored the other students who got their diplomas - the only other person he would have cared about was Zexion, and as he was a junior he wouldn't be graduating until the next year. He rested his head on Ms. Sinclair's shoulder. She sighed and put her arm around him.

"You should be up there with them."

"I should be up there _instead_ of some of them."

She chuckled and rubbed his shoulder. "There's always next year, sweetie."

Roxas rolled his eyes and ignored the speech Principal Storm was giving, opting to wallow in his misery instead.

* * *

"Hey, Namine! Wait up!"

She slowed her pace and waited for Seifer to catch up to her. "What?"

"Listen, Hayner told me what happened between you two."

Namine rolled her eyes and resumed walking. "You knew this was going to happen, don't act like you care, Seifer. This is all so amusing to you, isn't it?"

Seifer grabbed her arm, effectively stilling her. "Well, yeah. It's actually hilarious. I told Hayner monogamy doesn't work. But that's beside the point."

"There was a point?" She asked, attempting to yank her arm from his grip.

"Yeah, actually. Because Hayner also told me he wanted to talk to you. I'm just here to deliver you."

She sighed. "I don't have time right now, I have to get to work."

"Since when do you work?"

She tried to yank her arm free again. "It's new."

He pulled her arm and guided her back towards the school. "Whatever, it'll be quick. Let's go."

* * *

Ms. Sinclair was driving, and kept kindly reminding Axel to take his feet off the dashboard. Roxas was sprawled across the backseat, humming along to the brainless song playing on the radio. Ms. Sinclair turned to her son with a grin on her face.

"So where does my big high school graduate want to go for dinner?"

Axel chuckled and ran his hand over his face, resting it over his mouth. Roxas smiled as he saw the color in his cheeks change to rival his hair. "I don't know, ma. Let Roxas choose."

She nodded in the direction of the back seat. "Well?"

Roxas shrugged. "How about that new Mediterranean place at the edge of town?"

She shrugged. "What say you, hun?"

Axel rolled his eyes at the endearment. "Sounds good to me."

* * *

"I'm still not really comfortable with this."

He gulped as his zipper was pulled down and cold air rushed in. A hand released his manhood from the confines of his trousers and he shivered.

"You will be, I promise. Remember how good this was last time?"

He jumped as a tongue ran along the underside of his shaft.

"Thought we were over the first time jitters?"

"Listen, you know I was waiting for Nami-_ahhh_!"

She pulled back from where her nose was buried in his pubic hair. "Seifer told me to up the ante if you said her name."

Hayner groaned. Curse his inability to resist anything Seifer said. Curse Olette's intense gift with her mouth. Curse Namine's need to cheat on him with his friend.

Disgusted, he thought about all the times she'd made excuses to be with Axel.

Then he grabbed Olette's hair and gave in.

* * *

"Seifer, where are you taking me?"

"Namine, shut up and wait until we get there, okay?"

He dragged her down halls and around corners, and she couldn't stop hoping. She hated being alone. Maybe he'd forgiven her. Maybe he'd want her back. Maybe he'd even propose like he was planning. As Seifer pulled to a stop in front of his janitor's closet, she even settled for hoping he'd just want to hook up with her. Anything but being alone.

"Here we are." Seifer announced, releasing her arm and stepping behind her. "After you, Namine."

She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled, opening the door. The light was off, but she could make out two figures writhing together on the back wall. She opened the door wider and the light from the hallway illuminated Olette's face peeking over a man's shoulder. "Olette?" She mumbled, glancing back at Seifer. He stared back at her before she turned back to the closet. Namine reached up and pulled the string, turning on the lightbulb overhead, bathing the small room in light. She saw the dirty blond hair perched atop the guy frantically thrusting into Olette.

"Hayner?"

Olette moaned as she reached her peak and Hayner twitched in pleasure as well. He turned around, eyes glazed, and froze. He lowered Olette to the ground before pulling up the pants that were pooled around his feet. He opened his mouth to speak but snapped it shut, glaring at Namine. He waited for Olette to right her dress before grabbing her hand and leaving, pushing past the blonde as he stormed out.

Namine gaped at their retreating forms before turning back to Seifer, helpless. He shrugged, smirked, and walked away. "Told you I'd be here."

* * *

They exchanged small talk and laughs over their glasses and appetizers and roped a blushing Axel into a conversation about his future. They were so involved in their conversation that they took no notice of the waitresses arguing a couple tables away from them.

"I _can't_ take that table!"

"Yes you can, and you will. That's your assigned table, and all your others are vacant. I'm working 2, 3, 7, and 12. Go serve them."

"But -"

"Go."

The conversation had turned to Ms. Sinclair's college days, when she had studied to be in business before realizing how bored she'd have been and taking an eclectic array of unrelated courses. She had just finished telling them about the horrid, creepy professor who taught her introductory psychology class when the reluctant waitress approached their table.

"Are you ready to order?"

Axel looked up from his menu and his eyes widened. "Namine? What are you doing here?"

"I work here, obviously." She glared at him and curled a lip at Roxas who was sitting silently, feeling tremendously awkward.

"Shouldn't you be out celebrating?"

She rolled her eyes at the unwanted small talk. "I couldn't get my schedule changed. I have to clock in on time. What will you be having?"

She took their orders and left with one last glare in Roxas' direction. Ms. Sinclair, who didn't understand the tension, spoke up first.

"What was that about, Axel?"

"It's nothing, ma."

"Don't tell me it's nothing. What happened between the two of you? You used to be close, right? And why was she looking at Roxas that way?"

"We broke up, ma. That's it."

The woman pouted a bit. "Aw, why? You guys seemed happy."

"I - uh... I sort of... There's someone else." His eyes flickered briefly to Roxas, but his mother didn't quite catch it.

"Well, that doesn't explain why she was glaring at Roxas, does it?"

Roxas cut in. "I don't know why," he glanced at Axel, who looked thankful for the save. "But I don't think she's ever liked me. It's no big deal."

"Aw, how could anyone dislike you?" She ruffled his hair and continued talking about her college days. Axel sat there uncomfortably for a while before he couldn't take it anymore and stood abruptly from the table.

"Hey Rox come with me to the bathroom really quick." Roxas got out a brief 'wha-?' before being pulled to restroom.

When the door closed behind them, Axel glanced at the elderly man washing his hands at the sink and waited impatiently for him to leave. When he shuffled out of the room, Axel sighed and sat on the counter.

"Thanks for covering for me back there."

"No problem, Ax. I could tell you were trying to keep it a secret. It's okay."

"You're not mad, right?"

Roxas walked over in front of him and hugged him, burying his face in his chest. "Nope."

Axel sighed and held the blond out at arm's length before pulling him flush against him for a kiss. He thrust his tongue in his mouth and ran his hands along Roxas' sides, stopping at his hips, and the blond responded enthusiastically. Axel slid his hand under Roxas' shirt and ghosted them expertly over his soft skin. He nipped at Roxas' bottom lip as he slid a hand past the waistband of the boy's pants, and Roxas jerked away.

"Axel," he panted. "We're in the bathroom. You're mom's out there." He looked down at his feet. "And I'm not ready."

The redhead dropped down from his seat on the sink and flushed. "Sorry, I guess I wasn't really thinking." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly before leaning in swiftly and pecking Roxas' lips. "My mom probably thinks we died; let's go."

When they got back to the table, Namine was setting their dishes on the table. Ms. Sinclair looked up at their arrival. "You two are such girls. What took you so long?" She didn't seem to notice the reddened cheeks, swollen lips, and general disarray of their clothing, but Namine did. She slammed Roxas' plate on the table and as she twisted to look incredulously at Axel, she knocked Ms. Sinclair's glass of red wine onto herself. She huffed and pulled the rag from her belt before kneeling to clean up her mess. Axel looked at his mother with no words on his tongue, and Roxas struggled to stifle his laughter. When she was done, she got up, mumbled an insincere 'enjoy your meal' and stormed off.

"You know, Axel honey, I don't think I'm going to tip her."

And Roxas let his laughter erupt.

* * *

How I dislike you, Namine. No tip for you.

Sorry this is freakishly short.

_Review_!


	15. Chapter 15

Sorry for the delay. Second semester, blah blah, midterms, blah blah, spring break, blah blah. Ignore my excuses, they aren't very good. Sorry, folks.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything, not even good time-management skills.

* * *

Mrs. Sinclair sighed as she saved her page with a bookmark and placed it on the cushion beside her. She walked to the door, checking her hair in the mirror as she went.

"Namine?"

The aforementioned blonde shuffled her feet nervously and twisted her fingers together. "Hi, Mrs. Sinclair. Is Axel home?"

The woman sighed. "Namine, I don't think he'd want to see you… especially after the way you behaved at the restaurant after graduation."

Namine's face was strained as she pushed her hair behind her ear. "I'm very sorry about that, Mrs. Sinclair. I just need to talk to him, just for five minutes. Please?"

"Fine, he's in his room. Five minutes." She sighed again as the small girl walked past her to her son's room. "Life is so hard when you're responsible for a redhead." She mumbled to herself. "Maybe I should have listened when _his_ mother told me that."

* * *

_"Namine, there was a time when I wanted to spend my whole life with you."_

_She placed a hand over his hopefully, but he took his away. "Was. That's over."_

_Tears pooled in her eyes. "Hayner, please… I love you." She reached out for him again but he avoided her. "We can get back together and we can forget all of this ever happened. If you can forgive me, I can forgive the Olette thing-"_

_Hayner cut her off with a raised hand and looked out across the field. "I don't need to be forgiven. You do. And no, I can't forgive you. You went behind my back for months."_

_"I'm sorry!"_

_He continued on, ignoring her. "And you know, I might have been able to forgive all of that, Nam." He turned to her, face neutral but pain visible in his eyes. "But then you went and slept with him. And that's not… I can't forgive that."_

_"Hayner-"_

_"And the part that I just don't understand is why? Why, Namine? We were perfect for each other. We made it last longer than anyone else we knew. I cared about you. I respected you. I _loved _you, Namine."_

_Namine's face was wet with tears; she didn't bother wiping them away. She'd ruined everything. "I love you, Hayner. I don't know what else to do."_

_He plowed on, growing angrier. "I was so wrong about you. I thought you were perfect." He scoffed. "If I'd known you were so easy, I wouldn't have bothered waiting for you. You were such a waste of my time. And to think I almost married you."_

_"Hayner, please, think about this!" She beseeched him._

_"I thought about it, Namine. While you were in Axel's bed? I thought about it."_

_She stood up, finally angered. "Listen, Hayner, if this is just about sex, I will sleep with you right here on these bleachers!"_

_Hayner stood slowly. "That's the problem right there." He turned away from her. "Who are you? The Namine I knew never would have said that. You're a stranger. I can't forgive a stranger."_

_Namine half-heartedly reached a hand out before letting it fall to her side to dangle. "I-"_

_"And I sure can't love a stranger. I can't love you. Not anymore."_

* * *

Namine opened Axel's door, expecting to see him cleaning his leather jacket. He did that a lot. Or maybe he'd be packing for college. That would make sense. What she did not expect to see was Axel's head buried in Roxas' lap.

"Oh my god." She quickly closed the door and pressed her back against it. "Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew."

"Was that-"

Axel removed his mouth but kept his hand moving. "Namine."

"Should we-"

"Nope. She can wait." And he dove back in, finishing Roxas off with a few more deep sucks. He pulled a face when Roxas came in his mouth, but swallowed nonetheless. He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and grinned. "So, how was that?"

Roxas blushed. It took a lot of convincing on Axel's part for him to agree to this. He wasn't sure he'd be ready for anything sexual after what happened with Riku, but that had actually been – "Amazing, Ax."

"Good." He crawled up the bed and pushed Roxas over so he could lay next to him. "That was my first time doing that."

Roxas turned to him. "Really?"

"Yup." He draped an arm lazily over Roxas' hip.

"Can I ask you something?"

Axel took note of the way Roxas' eyes were focused intently on anywhere but his eyes. He slowly moved his hand up to run through the blond hair. "What is it?"

"Are you – Have you ever, you know, like, been with another boy before? Before me?"

Axel chuckled. "Nope. Is that all?"

"Yeah, it's just… so why are you with me?"

Axel stilled his hand in Roxas' hair and narrowed his eyes. "Are you doubting me?"

"No, I just-"

"Good. Because I really like you, Roxy." Axel closed his eyes and listened hard before picking up the repetition of 'ew' coming from beyond the door. "You might want to pull your pants up, Rox." He waited for him to do just that before calling Namine in.

She walked through the door with one hand over her eyes. "Are you guys still…?"

"No." Axel answered. Roxas burrowed into his side and he tightened his arm around him.

She looked at them and scowled. "Ew. I'm sorry," she rushed, before Axel kicked her out. "Axel, I need to talk to you."

"Speak."

"In private?"

"No."

Roxas smiled into Axel's side.

Namine walked over to Axel's dresser and lifted herself onto it. "Fine. You really screwed me over, Axel."

Axel sighed. "How do you figure?"

"You told Hayner! How could you? When you dumped me, you said you wanted me to stay with him. You said you wanted me to marry him. And then you _told_ him!"

"You know what, Namine? Oh well. I'm sorry," he said insincerely. "You can't be a bitch and then call in favors."

"I'm sorry I called you a fag, okay? I was just surprised. It's all his fault, anyway." She said, pointing at Roxas.

Axel's face hardened. "Leave him out of this."

"No." She sighed. "I need to talk to you, Axel. Alone."

Axel poised his mouth to tell her no again when Roxas chimed in. "I need to shower before I smell like this forever. Fifteen minutes, tops." He unwound himself from Axel and as he got off the bed, Axel pulled him back for a quick kiss. He closed the door behind him.

"Why the hell would you bring Roxas into your bullshit?"

Namine didn't waste any time. "Roxas was raped."

Axel stared at her for a long time before he shook his head. "No he wasn't."

"Axel," she said as she hopped to the ground and walked over to where he was sitting on the bed. "He was raped. More than once."

"Why are you saying that?" Fury and distress flashed in his eyes. "What's wrong with you? Do you think making up shit like that is going to help you?"

"Roxas changes people! He changed you and he changed Riku! I'm not making it up! Riku told me, and he told me not to tell, so I kept quiet. But now that I don't have a secret, I don't see why I have to keep his. So I thought you should know, now that you two are… together."

Axel stood slowly and turned to stare at the picture of him and the blond over his bed. "Riku?" He remembered all those months ago when he had that argument with Roxas after he asked what that mark on his neck was. He remembered all the times he saw Roxas staring at Riku in fear. When he walked in on Riku in Roxas' hospital room – what the fuck had he done? "Riku raped…" He closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing. "He raped Roxas? _My _Roxas? My best friend? My… Fuck." He collapsed on the bed and put his head in his hands. "Shit."

Namine stood next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm really sorry."

Axel lowered his hands and looked up at her, fire in his eyes. "You're sorry? _Sorry_? You knew! You knew it was happening, and you didn't tell me! You didn't tell anyone!"

She snatched her hand back. "If I told anyone, he was going to tell people about us."

Axel stood and ran a hand through his spikes. "So_ what_? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I thought my life would be over if anyone found out. And look at that - I was right. So I didn't tell."

"You _bitch_." He grabbed her arm and dragged her through his house to the front door, ignoring his mother's confusion, and threw Namine out the front door. "If I ever see you again…" And he slammed the door in her face.

Mrs. Sinclair peeked over the pages of her novel. "I take it you two didn't have a nice talk?"

* * *

Axel sat on his bed with his hands in his lap and stared at the blanket on his bed. Some of the threads were unraveling. Some were frayed. Roxas was raped. The patch that his mother had sewn on when he was twelve was coming off. The blanket was too old, and needed to be replaced. Roxas was raped.

"Namine's gone?"

Axel looked up at Roxas and fought to hold back the anger building up inside of him and the tears threatening to fall. "Yeah, I kicked her out." Roxas' hair was wet and drooping over his shoulders. His knuckles were white as his clenched hand tightly held the towel wrapped around his waist. His entire torso was covered in a blush. A smile spread across his face as he walked to gather his clothes from the closet. "I'll just be somewhere else while you change."

Axel closed the door behind him as he left through it and went to the bathroom that Roxas just vacated. Splashing water over his face, he wondered how long Roxas' abuse had been going on, and why he'd kept it a secret from everyone, including Axel. As he stared at his reflection his eyebrows seemed to lower on their own until his face morphed into the embodiment of anger and disgust. Riku had done this. The bastard.

"What did Namine say?"

Axel jumped in surprise and looked to the doorway where a fully dressed Roxas had just appeared. "She was just whining about her life, nothing special."

Roxas walked back to the bedroom and Axel followed. "But… she said something was my fault… I didn't do anything wrong, right? You'd tell me, right?"

"Yeah," he said, wrapping the blond in an embrace. "I'd tell you. Just like you… you tell me everything, too, right?"

Roxas stiffened in his arms and Axel, mentally cursing, picked up on it. "Yeah, everything."

Axel led them to the bed and sat back on the pillows, bringing Roxas to rest in his arms. "Roxas," he started. How was he going to bring this up without ruining everything? "Uh, I need to ask you a question. And I need the truth, yeah?"

Roxas settled back in Axel's arms. "Of course."

"Why did you… why'd you try to kill yourself?"

* * *

The air caught in Roxas' throat and he struggled to breath. He removed himself from Axel's hold and scrambled to the edge of the bed. What was he supposed to tell him? He couldn't tell him about Riku, he couldn't. But he'd been hiding it for so long and there was a part of him that wanted to release the secret and get everything off his chest. But Axel would be disgusted, there's no way he'd still want to be with someone who'd been constantly raped. The best answer Roxas could ever think of under so much pressure was, "I don't know."

Axel leveled a look at the blond. "Roxas."

"I don't… I don't want to tell you."

"Rox, you can tell me anything." He said, reaching out to link hands with the boy. _Please just tell me she was lying. _"Please, Rox."

He pulled his hand away from the redhead and crossed his arms over his chest protectively. "I can't. You'll think I'm pathetic… You'll think I'm dirty." Roxas pulled his knees to his chest as tears started pooling in his eyes. "And you'll be right."

"Kid, please don't do that. Roxas, stop crying, please." He approached the blond and wiped the tears from his cheeks, then sat back on his heels.

"You'll be right, because I am dirty, and pathetic, and disgusting, and weak, and-"

"But you're not!"

"But I was raped!" There it was; out in the open and Roxas wished on everything good that he could take it back, but it was too late. "I was raped, Axel, over and over and over again! And I never told anyone because I was too scared and Riku said that if I told he'd kill me. So I just let him rape me, and I didn't even try to stop him!" He tried in vain to wipe at the tears pouring down his face but they kept regenerating. "I just let it happen, Axel. It's all my fault."

"It's not your fault, Roxas."

Roxas cocked his head to the side and stared at the redhead through his tears. "She knew, didn't she? She knew! And she told you! You knew! Why did you make me tell you if you already knew? You bastard!" Roxas lunged at Axel and punched him in the chest repeatedly.

"Roxas, stop!" He grabbed the pale wrists and flipped them so that he was on top of Roxas. He pinned Roxas' arms down with his knees and then put his own hands up in a gesture of peace. "Roxas, I'm not the enemy here, okay?" Roxas' sobs didn't ebb and Axel felt misery wash over him. "I'm sorry, Roxy," he said as he backed off of the blond. "She told me, but I thought she was making it up to get back at us. Roxas, why didn't you tell me earlier? We could've stopped it."

"Because I'm weak and ashamed... And now you don't want anything to do with me."

"Roxas," grabbing the boy's jaw and making him look into his eyes, "you aren't disgusting. Riku, the sick fuck who raped you, is disgusting." He pulled him into his arms. "And I'm not going anywhere, alright Roxas? I care about you too fucking much, alright? I love you, Rox."

* * *

_Reviews are food for thought. _

_No really. _

_Like, yum._


	16. Chapter 16

Guys. Guys. Guys. No really. Guys. _Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance_ is going to be out before we know it. It's already out in Japan. I can't even -

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything. Maybe if I was in Japan, but I'm not, so...

* * *

"Zexion, would you get the door?"

He sighed, placing his book face-down to save his page. He passed the kitchen where his sister was sitting on the table, eating a bowl of cereal. "Aqua, _why_?" He rolled his eyes at her choice of a seat.

"You know I get tired of sitting in a chair for too long!"

Zexion, smiling from his little sister's antics, opened the door... and the smile faded. "Hello, Roxas." The blond smiled brightly, silently asking to come in. Zexion stepped outside, closing the door behind him. He lowered himself to sit on the stairs and the blond followed, smile dim from the clear rejection.

"How are you, Zex?"

"I'm fine," he replied, refusing to look at the boy beside him. "What did you need?"

Roxas frowned at his friend. "Is advice too far out of the equation?"

He shook his head, voice barely audible, "No."

The blond allowed himself a small smile. Zexion had always been good for advice. "Okay… So what should I do… when someone tells me that they, uh," he swallowed nervously, "they love me. They told me, and I didn't say anything back. What do I-"

"Roxas, _I_ love you."

Said blond spluttered, floundering. "Wha- I- I-"

"Why don't you have anything to say?" Zexion shouted at the blond, turning to face him, eyes filled with more negativity than Roxas had ever seen in them.

"Because – I – why are you –?"

Zexion sighed. "I'll tell you why. Because you don't love me back. So why didn't you say anything to Axel?"

"I don't know! That's what I want you to tell me!"

"Well it's pretty simple, Roxas." He crossed his arms and pointedly looked away, jaw tensed. "Either you love him and you tell him that, or you don't and you end it. Don't -" he began, before snapping his jaw shut and interrupting himself.

Roxas leaned in, trying to catch of glimpse of his friend's face. "Don't do what?"

Zexion was standing with his hand around the doorknob before the blond knew what had happened. He was halfway over the threshold before Roxas thought to stand. "Just don't screw him over, too."

* * *

Riku tightened his grip on the steering wheel before slamming his head down onto it. Ignoring the pain, he tried to control his breathing so he could think. A vibration from the passenger seat jolted him. He glared at the device, his cell phone, before grabbing it to read the unwanted text.

_come over baby_

Riku rolled his eyes and sent off a quick decline before returning to his seething. Before he got a chance to fully invest himself in his anger, the phone buzzed again.

_parents r away.. come on Riku ;)_

He growled and sent out a frustrated 'fuck off' before turning the phone off and throwing it in the back of his truck. Deciding that grumbling wasn't going to get him any results, he put the key in the ignition and left.

* * *

Roxas practically ran back to Axel's. Bursting through the door, he took in the shock apparent on Mrs. Sinclair's face, offered her an apologetic smile and raced towards the redhead's bedroom.

"He's not here, sweetie!" The woman called back after the blond.

Roxas froze with his hand on the bedroom door, about to throw that one open as well, and visibly sagged. He walked at a more human pace back to the front room, where Mrs. Sinclair was sitting on the couch, novel in hand. "Oh," he started, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Do you know where he is?"

"No idea, hun," she answered, not looking up from her book. "But he did have his struggle bat, so perhaps he's at the sandlot?"

Roxas nodded and muttered a quick thanks before bolting out the door again.

* * *

Driving always did help clear his thoughts; taking back roads, not having to worry about other drivers, standard street laws, or any issues back in his neighborhood. This particular road – not so much a road as much a dirt path forged by his own tires – was his favorite; it ran parallel to the train tracks for miles before veering to the left to rejoin society and their paved roadways.

He ran a hand through his hair and let out a huff of air. For some reason, the drive wasn't cutting it this time. His head was as full as it had ever been, swimming with thoughts and fears and angers and hope and dread and everything else. It was wrong. He was driving his favorite route. His head should be empty of all thoughts.

He should be happy Riku again.

Nothing was working.

* * *

The sandlot was empty.

Roxas groaned and turned around, taking off at a run to the woods.

He'd start at the tracks and follow as they led him towards Axel.

Riku heaved another sigh as he kept driving – not veering off to continue life yet, as he hadn't resolved anything, hadn't resolved how to fix his situation, hadn't resolved how to fix anything at all. And everything was broken; himself included.

Ahead of him, a blur of pale yellow streaked across his peripheral. Riku's head snapped up, his gaze searching for the disturbance on his path. He watched as the small boy halted his run as he reached the tracks, hoped up on the small metal ledge, and began balancing, walking steadily.

Towards him.

* * *

"Riku-"

He disregarded the voice completely, opting instead to cover the mouth with his own and push forward. One hand grabbed a fistful of hair, the other tightly holding a wrist. Riku plowed on, using his tongue to mold the other's mouth to his liking. When he came up for air, he grinned and wiped the back of his hand across his lips.

"On your knees."

Riku had to admit he felt a little giddy each time he issued a command, and a fire sparked inside his chest each time one his orders were followed. He pulled down his zipper and grabbed another fistful of hair; the fire grew as he felt lips close around his cock.

He _needed_ this. Not driving around near the railways. Being demanding, forceful, then finally – "Fuck," he moaned as he came – cumming into the mouth of his whore. So much better than going for a drive.

He zipped up his pants and lowered himself to sit on the floor, eyes closed, face much more relaxed than it had been fifteen minutes earlier. Even still – he rolled his closed eyes at the giggle originating from a few feet in front of him – there was always room for improvement. She wasn't Roxas.

"See ya, Kairi," he mumbled, standing and dusting off the back of his jeans.

"But-!" She was quickly silenced by the sharp glare he stabbed her with. "Riku, just a sec!"

He worked his jaw, good feeling all but gone. "What?"

She smiled brightly and came forward to plant a kiss on his unresponsive lips. "You can, like, come by… later, too. If you want." Her smile faded a bit. "See – See you later."

Riku nodded before turning and heading back to his truck. What a waste of a trip. Temporary relief for a permanent problem. Next time he'd have to go directly to the source.

* * *

_*shrugs* Figured we hadn't seen Riku in a while. Thought I'd go see what he was up to and report back to you guys._

_Reviews are gravy._

_(gravy is a good thing)_


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